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.
Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. (BCCL), a public sector coal company, ran an online reverse e-auction for a large mining services contract. Midway through the auction, an internet connectivity fault caused one bidder's (AMR-Dev Prabha's) bid to go unanswered for the required 30 minutes, automatically closing the auction with that bid as the apparent lowest. The auction operator restarted the process after confirming the technical fault, and a different company (RK Transport) ultimately won with a lower bid in the extended round. AMR-Dev Prabha challenged the award in the High Court, which found procedural lapses and quashed the contract award, prompting BCCL's appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that writ jurisdiction over government tenders is reserved for cases involving a genuine public-interest violation or clear illegality, not ordinary commercial grievances between rival bidders, and here, AMR-Dev Prabha's challenge was aimed purely at securing the contract for itself at a higher price to the public exchequer, which did not serve any public interest. On the merits, the Court found that multiple independent technical investigations (including by India's national Computer Emergency Response Team) had confirmed the connectivity fault was genuine, justifying the auction's resumption, and that any procedural irregularities fell short of illegality or bad faith. The High Court's judgment was set aside, BCCL's appeals were allowed, and AMR-Dev Prabha's writ petition was dismissed.
An unsuccessful bidder cannot use a writ petition to re-fight a losing commercial outcome in a government tender; courts will only intervene in tender disputes where there is genuine public interest at stake or clear illegality, bad faith, or irrationality in the process.
