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.
A second appeal under Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, originally filed in 1990, was admitted by the High Court without the Court framing any specific "substantial question of law" at the admission stage, as the law requires. Arguments were heard and judgment reserved in 2009, and only when the High Court finally delivered its judgment did it mention certain substantial questions of law, meaning those questions were effectively framed for the first time at the judgment-writing stage, after the hearing was already over. The losing party appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing this procedure was unfair since the parties never knew in advance which legal questions the High Court was actually going to decide.
The Supreme Court held that Section 100 CPC requires the High Court to formulate the substantial question(s) of law before hearing the appeal on merits, so the parties and their counsel know in advance what they must argue and can properly assist the Court; only in limited circumstances can new questions be framed later, but even then with reasons recorded and after hearing the parties. Because the High Court here admitted the appeal without framing questions and only articulated them inside the final judgment itself, the Court held this procedure was legally erroneous and unfair to the parties. Without expressing any view on the merits of the underlying property dispute, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court's judgment on this short procedural ground, allowed the appeal, and remanded the second appeal back to the High Court with directions to properly frame the questions of law after hearing the parties and decide the matter afresh on a priority basis.
In a second appeal, the High Court must clearly frame the substantial question(s) of law at the time of admitting the appeal (or formally before final hearing with reasons), not spring them for the first time inside the judgment: litigants are entitled to know in advance exactly what legal issues they need to argue.
