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Real judgements, distilled

Legal Case Shots

Court judgements broken down into the case type, how the decision played out, and the lesson worth remembering, with the full judgement available as a PDF.

Company & Insolvency LawSupreme Court of India

Greenopolis Welfare Confederation v. Rakesh Kumar Gupta

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1070

Fraud by the party who originally triggered a company's insolvency process doesn't automatically undo the entire process for everyone, once other genuine creditors and stakeholders (like homebuyers) are involved, the adjudicating body must weigh whether continuing the process still serves them, rather than simply cancelling it outright.

Decided 30 Sept 2026View details

Banking & Debt Recovery LawSupreme Court of India

Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited v. M/S P.M. Associates & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1071

The legal principle protecting the finality of confirmed auction sales exists to reward a lawfully conducted process, not to shield a sale riddled with procedural violations: courts can and will unwind even a long-settled auction if the underlying process was illegal.

Decided 30 Sept 2026View details

Criminal LawSupreme Court of India

Sainaba v. State of Kerala & Anr.

Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1069

For a cheque-bounce case, correctly addressing and dispatching the statutory demand notice is enough to trigger the legal presumption of valid service: the accused cannot escape liability merely because someone else at the same address received the notice on their behalf.

Decided 30 Sept 2026View details

Arbitration & Commercial LawSupreme Court of India

M/S Awadhesh Singh Gautam v. State of Chhattisgarh & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1072

A government authority cannot bypass a contract's own procedural safeguards, like prior notice and a designated approving officer, to recover a disputed, unproven claim by simply withholding payments legitimately due under a separate contract.

Decided 30 Sept 2026View details

Civil Property & InheritanceDelhi High Court

Jagdish Kumar Arora vs. Dinesh Mittal

Regular First Appeal · 2026:DHC:8466

Occupying commercial premises, taking the keys, and carrying out renovation work can create tenant-like possession obligations even without ever signing a formal registered lease: verbal/WhatsApp-documented agreements plus conduct can be enough to lose a possession dispute.

Decided 29 Sept 2026View details

Criminal LawDelhi High Court

Dinesh Chand Upadhyay & Ors. vs. State/NCT of Delhi & Ors.

Criminal Miscellaneous Case · 2026:DHC:8489

Courts will not permit a private settlement to extinguish criminal proceedings for serious sexual offences once the complainant has already testified in support of the prosecution at trial.

Decided 29 Sept 2026View details

Arbitration & Commercial LawDelhi High Court

Mathur & Kapre Associates Private Limited vs. Union of India

Enforcement Petition (Commercial Arbitration) · 2026:DHC:8492

A recurring practical reminder: parties seeking to enforce arbitral awards in Delhi must ensure stamp duty is paid within one month of the award, or risk having enforcement proceedings stalled on this technical but mandatory ground.

Decided 29 Sept 2026View details

Criminal LawDelhi High Court

Rajender Kumar & Ors. vs. State NCT of Delhi & Anr.

Criminal Miscellaneous Case · 2026:DHC:8483

A private "compromise" between accused and complainant cannot override a serious criminal case once the survivor has testified in support of the prosecution: courts will not quash FIRs involving grave offences (especially against women) merely because parties have settled privately.

Decided 29 Sept 2026View details

Criminal LawDelhi High Court

Robin Kumar and Others vs. The State and Another

Criminal Miscellaneous Case · 2026:DHC:8480

A "compromise" in a matrimonial criminal case is unlikely to result in quashing of the FIR while the underlying marriage itself remains legally undissolved: courts want to see the matrimonial status resolved first.

Decided 29 Sept 2026View details

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Legal Case Shots is a searchable database of Supreme Court of India judgments, each broken down into the case type, the court's key holding, and a practical lesson learnt, with the full judgment available as a PDF for citation or deeper reading.

Civil Property & InheritanceSupreme Court of India

Sangita Sinha v. Bhawana Bhardwaj

Civil Appeal · 2025 INSC 450Decided 4 Apr 2025

C.A. No.-004972-004972 - 2025 (arising from SLP(C) No.28460 of 2024)

Justice Dipankar Datta · Justice Manmohan

Background

In 2008, Bhawana Bhardwaj (the buyer) entered into an unregistered agreement to sell for a Patna property with the elderly owner, paying part of the price in cash and post-dated cheques. The seller later claimed her signature had been fraudulently obtained, lodged a police complaint, sent a cancellation letter refunding part of the earnest money via demand drafts, and returned two of the three post-dated cheques, but the buyer went ahead and encashed the refund drafts anyway, then sued for specific performance. The trial court and Patna High Court both ruled in the buyer's favour and ordered the sale deed executed; the seller's beneficiary under a competing Will (the appellant) challenged this before the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court reversed, holding that a buyer must show continuous "readiness and willingness" to perform a contract from the date of the agreement right through to the decree, and that the buyer's act of encashing the seller's refund drafts months after the cancellation letter (and after suing) was conduct fatally inconsistent with genuine willingness to complete the purchase. The Court further held that once a seller sends a cancellation/repudiation letter, a buyer who accepts a refund cannot simply sue for specific performance without first seeking a declaration that the cancellation was invalid, omitting this made the suit itself not maintainable. The Court also found the buyer's failure to disclose the cancellation letter and refund in her plaint amounted to suppression of a material fact, independently disqualifying her from the discretionary and equitable remedy of specific performance. The sale deed already executed under the lower court's judgment was declared null and void.

Lesson Learnt

A buyer seeking court-ordered enforcement of a property sale agreement must maintain, prove, and disclose continuous readiness and willingness to complete the purchase at every stage of litigation, accepting a refund of the deposit money, or hiding a seller's cancellation notice from the court, can by itself defeat an otherwise valid claim.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

Sangita Sinha v. Bhawana Bhardwaj – Legal Case Shots | LegalAware