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.
Following a 1985 Combined State Service Examination for the post of Deputy Collector in U.P., the originally selected candidates did not join, so the Public Service Commission recommended Chunni Lal for one of the vacant posts. Before this could be finalised, another candidate, Ajay Shankar Pandey, separately won a High Court order directing the Commission to recommend him instead, and the Commission then withdrew its recommendation of Chunni Lal. Years later, the High Court, in a petition filed by Chunni Lal, directed the State to also appoint him to the same post, while directing that Ajay Shankar Pandey's appointment should not be disturbed, effectively ordering two appointments to one vacant position.
The Supreme Court held that the High Court's order was legally unsustainable because it is not possible to direct appointment of two different persons to a single post, especially when Ajay Shankar Pandey had already been appointed pursuant to an earlier, specific High Court order. The Court also noted that Chunni Lal had since retired (from a different post he held) in 2019, before the appeal was even decided, making the High Court's directive impossible to implement in any event. On both grounds, the legal impossibility of two appointments to one post, and the subsequent retirement, the Supreme Court quashed and set aside the High Court's judgment.
A court cannot direct that two people be appointed to the same single government post; where a post has already been validly filled pursuant to one court order, a later claimant cannot be appointed to the very same vacancy without disturbing that earlier appointment.
