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 appellant, a CRPF Deputy Inspector General, was repeatedly subjected to conflicting medical fitness examinations over several years that determined whether he qualified for promotion to Inspector General (IG). He was briefly promoted to IG in 2012 based on one favourable medical report, but the promotion was withdrawn in 2013 and he was reverted to DIG without being given a show-cause notice or a hearing. Courts stayed the reversion, so he continued working as IG, eventually retiring in that rank in 2016, while the underlying dispute over his medical categorization and promotion remained pending before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that since the appellant had continued, under the protection of court orders, to actually perform the duties of IG for nearly four years up to his retirement, and since his reversion had been done without due process, the ends of justice required invoking Article 142 of the Constitution to direct that his retiral dues be computed as if he had retired in the substantive rank of IG. However, having examined the medical board findings, the Court declined to direct any further consideration of his claim for promotion to the still-higher rank of Additional DGP, accepting the Union's submission that the matter should rest there.
When a government employee continues to perform the duties of a higher post for years under the protection of a court's interim order, courts can use their special constitutional powers to ensure retirement benefits reflect that reality, but this does not automatically extend to further promotions the employee never substantively qualified for.
