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.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1066
Courts will not infer a concluded oral contract for the sale of immovable property just because the other side's witnesses seemed evasive: the party seeking specific performance must independently and affirmatively prove every essential term was genuinely agreed.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1065
Even in serious, high-value corruption cases, prolonged pre-trial detention cannot be used as a substitute for punishment when the trial is unlikely to conclude soon and the evidence is already secured: bail remains the touchstone principle under Article 21's personal liberty protection.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1067
Preventive detention cannot be used as a backdoor way to keep someone in custody once the ordinary criminal process, including bail, has already run its course on the same facts; the detaining authority must show a genuine, independent risk of future harm, not just recycle the criminal case file.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1068
In land acquisition disputes, courts will readily restore a uniform, fair market rate across similarly-situated parcels, but ancillary compensation heads (like moveable equipment such as tubewells) still require the claimant to prove their case with admissible evidence, not private reports whose authors were never examined in court.
First Appeal from Order · 2026:DHC:8447
If you are injured while genuinely trying to board or exit a train, you are very likely covered under railway "untoward incident" compensation law, even if you technically hadn't fully boarded yet: courts read this protection broadly in favour of passengers, and contemporaneous official records (station logs, police diary entries) carry more weight than a statement taken from you much later.
Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026:DHC:8404
Courts will not entertain vague, unsubstantiated allegations of judicial bias, and a request to combine cases becomes moot once the other related proceedings have already concluded: genuine grievances about trial delay or procedure must be backed by specific, demonstrable facts, not just repeated litigation.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8403
Anticipatory bail can be granted even in matrimonial cases involving serious sexual-offence allegations where there is unexplained delay in reporting, no evidence substantiating the need for custodial interrogation, and the investigating agency's own conduct (e.g., undocumented "verbal" notices) fails to justify arrest, though this is assessed only for bail purposes, not as a finding on guilt.
Regular First Appeal · 2026:DHC:8407
In family property disputes, signing a Relinquishment Deed acknowledging receipt of consideration, and then waiting years without challenging it or pursuing your claimed share, will make it very difficult to later prove you were never actually paid; courts expect contemporaneous action (a legal notice, a suit) and corroborating evidence, not delayed assertions alone.
Regular First Appeal · 2026:DHC:8401
A tenant who claims to have paid a large sum toward an informal "mortgage" or side arrangement must be able to prove it with solid evidence (receipts, corroborating witnesses): bare assertions, especially when contradicted by one's own family members under cross-examination, will not defeat a landlord's claim for rent and possession.
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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.
Dr. Mool Raj Kotwal retired from Sikkim government service in 2005 after reaching the age of superannuation and was paid leave encashment for 300 days of unutilized leave, the maximum allowed. He was then re-employed on the same post for over 14 years and, on finally being relieved in 2019, was again sanctioned cash payment for 300 days of unutilized leave earned during the re-employment period. The State later realised this "double" encashment was against its Leave Rules and cancelled the second payment, prompting Dr. Kotwal to challenge the cancellation in the Sikkim High Court, where he won at both the Single Judge and Division Bench stages.
The Supreme Court held that Rule 36 of the Sikkim Government Services (Leave) Rules, 1982 permits leave encashment (maximum 300 days) only on retirement from regular service, while Rule 32 (which treats a re-employed person as a fresh entrant for leave purposes) does not revive a fresh 300-day encashment entitlement for someone who already received it once on retirement. The two rules operate in separate spheres and cannot be read together to allow a second payout. The Court also rejected the argument that cancelling the benefit without a hearing violated natural justice, since the employee could show no valid entitlement to the amount in any case. The High Court's orders were set aside and the State's cancellation order was upheld.
A government employee who has already received the maximum permissible leave encashment on retirement cannot claim it a second time merely because further leave accumulates during a later period of re-employment: retirement benefit rules generally cap such payouts once per employee's regular service.
