Real judgements, distilled
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.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1073
In circumstantial-evidence cases, forensic and DNA evidence must actually corroborate the alleged crime: a conviction cannot survive where the most crucial scientific evidence, on its own terms, points away from rather than toward the prosecution's theory.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1074
A conviction based purely on circumstantial evidence requires every link in the chain, timeline, witness credibility, forensic matches, and motive, to be proven beyond reasonable doubt; gaps or suppressed evidence at any link entitle the accused to the benefit of the doubt, even in a serious case like a double murder.
Criminal Miscellaneous Case · 2026:DHC:8505
Courts will not quash a criminal case merely because the accused has a plausible alibi-type defence; unless that defence is conclusive and undisputed, the matter must be tested through the ordinary trial process.
Criminal Miscellaneous Case · 2026:DHC:8547
A private compromise between victim and accused cannot by itself secure quashing of a case involving serious, heinous allegations like attempted murder with a weapon: such matters must proceed to trial regardless of settlement.
First Appeal from Order · 2026:DHC:8563
Railway Claims Tribunals cannot reject a bona fide passenger's death claim based on speculative inferences when there is no direct evidence of an alternative cause of death; the compensation scheme under the Railways Act is to be interpreted generously in favour of victims' families.
Criminal Miscellaneous Case · 2026:DHC:8559
In matrimonial offences, courts can and do quash criminal proceedings once a genuine compromise is verified directly with the complainant, sparing both parties a prolonged and pointless trial.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8541
A co-accused's bail does not automatically extend to another accused where their actual roles in the offence differ materially; delay caused by one's own defence counsel cannot later be used as a ground for bail.
Execution Petition · 2026:DHC:8567
An arbitral award must be adequately stamped before a court can enforce it; courts give only a limited window to cure such defects, after which the award becomes legally unusable until the deficiency is fixed.
Arbitration Petition · 2026:DHC:8555
A genuine settlement reached through mediation renders a pending arbitration-related court petition moot, allowing parties to close out litigation quickly once they resolve their dispute privately.
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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.
The parties married in 2010 and had a son in 2011, but their marriage broke down and the father filed for divorce in 2014. The mother obtained an order from a Magistrate directing the father to hand over the child's custody to her, but the father never complied, and the child continued living with him from age three onward. The father's appeals against the custody order were dismissed by the District Judge and the Madras High Court, bringing the matter to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court personally interacted with the child, who by then was over 12 years old, and found he flatly refused to go with his mother or even speak to her. The Court also asked a senior counsel, Ms. V. Mohana, to counsel the family; her report showed the child gradually became willing to sit with his mother, meet her monthly at a public place, and speak with her by phone, though he remained unwilling to live with her or visit court. Emphasizing that the child's welfare is the paramount consideration in custody matters and that he was old enough to have a meaningful say, the Court declined to transfer custody to the mother but modified the order to secure her visitation and phone-call rights, with further mediation support available.
In custody disputes, once a child is old enough to express a genuine, considered preference, courts give real weight to that preference and the child's welfare over strict enforcement of an earlier custody order, and courts may use structured mediation and counselling to rebuild a estranged parent-child relationship rather than forcing an abrupt custody transfer.
