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.
Land belonging to the appellants in Bhoom, Maharashtra was taken into State possession in 1984 and 1992, but the formal acquisition notification followed only in 1999. The Land Acquisition Collector initially fixed a low per-square-meter rate; the Reference Court raised it substantially to Rs.70 per square foot based on two comparable sale deeds. On further appeal by the State, the Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) reduced the compensation, holding that one of the relied-upon sale deeds actually involved land with a house already built on it, requiring a bigger deduction.
The Supreme Court scrutinised the two sale exemplars relied on by the landowners and found that one of them (Exhibit 31) was based on a misrepresentation: house-tax records showed a house already stood on that plot years before the claimed construction-permission date, making it an unreliable, "non-bonafide" exemplar; the Court excluded it entirely. Relying on the remaining valid exemplar and applying a 50% deduction for development costs (since the acquired plot was large, rocky, and sold years after possession was taken), the Court restored the Reference Court's rate of Rs.70 per square foot. It also awarded the landowners 9% annual interest on the compensation for the "pre-acquisition" period, from when the State actually took possession (1984/1992) until the formal notification in 1999, to compensate them for the years they were deprived of their land without payment.
Courts carefully test the authenticity of sale exemplars used to value acquired land and will throw out any exemplar shown to rest on a false factual premise; landowners can also claim interest for the period the government used their land before formally completing the acquisition.
