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 husband and wife married in 2002, but the marriage collapsed almost immediately: the wife left the marriage hall the same night and the marriage was never consummated. The husband sought divorce on the ground of cruelty; the wife instead sought restitution of conjugal rights. A divorce was eventually granted in 2008 on the ground of irretrievable breakdown, after which the husband remarried within days, but years of appeals, a review petition, and renewed litigation (including RTI complaints and a criminal complaint against the husband) followed, stretching the case out for nearly two decades.
The Supreme Court held that although "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" is not a statutory ground for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, the Court can use its special power under Article 142 of the Constitution to dissolve a marriage that is completely and irreparably dead, even without both spouses' consent, as it had done in several earlier cases. It found the marriage here had never functioned even for a single day and that the wife's subsequent conduct, repeated litigation, RTI complaints about the husband's remarriage, and a criminal complaint, itself amounted to mental cruelty justifying divorce under Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Act. The Court granted a decree of divorce dissolving the marriage, directing payment of permanent alimony to protect the wife's financial interests, with each side bearing its own costs.
Even where a particular ground for divorce is not written into the statute, the Supreme Court can use its constitutional power to end a marriage that is factually and permanently dead, to prevent indefinite and mutually destructive litigation between estranged spouses.
