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.
In 1993, the Central Government banned the use of contract labour for certain mining operations at SAIL's Kuteshwar limestone and dolomite mines. When the contract expired, around 3,400 contract workers were terminated by the contractor in 1996 after they went on strike. A long industrial dispute followed over whether these workers should be treated as SAIL's own permanent employees. The Industrial Tribunal ruled that the contract was genuine and there was no automatic absorption, but the Madhya Pradesh High Court reversed this and ordered reinstatement, prompting SAIL's appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court set aside the High Court's judgment and restored the Tribunal's award. Relying on the Constitution Bench ruling in Steel Authority of India Ltd. v. National Union Waterfront Workers, it held that a government notification prohibiting contract labour for a given process does not, by itself, automatically convert contract workers into direct employees of the principal employer. The Tribunal had examined the documentary and oral evidence in detail and found the contract was not sham, and the High Court had wrongly reappreciated those factual findings under its limited writ jurisdiction. The workers remained free to pursue other remedies available under the Contract Labour Act for any statutory violations.
A government ban on contract labour for a particular job does not automatically make those workers permanent employees of the company that used the contractor: that requires a separate legal basis, and courts will not casually overturn a specialized tribunal's factual findings unless they are clearly perverse.
