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 respondent, a Field Officer at an SBI branch, was departmentally charged with misconduct, including failing to conduct periodical inspections of loan accounts, not completing formalities to create an equitable mortgage as collateral for one borrower, and other lapses. After an inquiry, the Disciplinary Authority found several charges proved and imposed a penalty of reduction in basic pay, which the Appellate Authority upheld; however, both a Single Judge and a Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court quashed the punishment, holding the enquiry officer's findings were based on no real evidence. The Bank appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court re-examined the actual deposition and enquiry record and found that the High Court had gone beyond its limited power of judicial review by re-appreciating evidence like an appellate court. On the specific charges of failing to conduct periodical inspections and failing to secure a collateral mortgage for one borrower (M/s Saraswathi Fabricators), the Court found there was, in fact, evidence on record (witness testimony and documents) supporting the enquiry officer's findings, so these findings could not be called "perverse" or based on "no evidence." Applying the settled principle that a High Court under Article 226 cannot substitute its own view of the evidence for that of the disciplinary authority as long as some evidence supports the finding, and that a penalty can stand even if not every charge was proved (severability of charges), the Court restored the punishment and dismissed the respondent's writ petition.
Courts reviewing departmental disciplinary proceedings under writ jurisdiction cannot act as an appellate body re-weighing evidence. They may only check whether the enquiry followed fair procedure and whether some evidence supports the findings; if it does, the punishment stands even if a few individual charges were not proved.
