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.
Shailendra Swarup, a practicing advocate, was a part-time, non-executive director of Modi Xerox Ltd. (MXL). The company failed to furnish evidence of import against foreign remittances made between 1985 and amalgamation, leading the Enforcement Directorate to initiate penalty proceedings under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (FERA) against the company and its directors, including Swarup. He contended he was never in charge of, or responsible for, the day-to-day business of the company. Despite this, he was penalised by the adjudicating officer, and this was upheld by the Appellate Tribunal and the Delhi High Court.
The Supreme Court held that under Section 68 of FERA, a director can only be held liable for a company's contravention if it is shown that he was actually "in charge of and responsible for the conduct of the business" at the relevant time: merely holding the office of director is not enough. The Court noted that an earlier adjudication order, concerning a different period of the same company's affairs, had itself accepted that Swarup was only a non-executive, part-time director, yet no reasoned basis was given for taking a contrary view in his case. Since the authorities had never established that he was actually in charge of the business, the penalty was quashed and the appeal allowed.
Simply being listed as a company director, especially a part-time, non-executive one, does not automatically make a person liable for the company's regulatory violations; the law requires specific proof that the individual was actually in charge of and responsible for running the business at the relevant time.
