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.
Radhika Theatre had run a cinema hall since 1981 and paid ESI contributions until September 1989, after which it stopped, saying it employed fewer than 20 people. The ESI Corporation issued demand notices (including one dated 31 August 1994). The theatre challenged them before the Employees' Insurance Court, which dismissed the challenge in 2010, but the Telangana High Court in 2021 set that aside, reasoning that Section 1(6) of the ESI Act (inserted with effect from 20 October 1989, which keeps an establishment covered even if its staff count later drops below the limit) could not be applied "retrospectively" to an establishment set up before that date.
The Supreme Court allowed the Corporation's appeal. It reiterated that the ESI Act is a social-welfare law that must be interpreted liberally in favour of workers, relying on Bangalore Turf Club Ltd. vs Regional Director, ESIC and earlier decisions. It held that from 20 October 1989 onwards, any factory or establishment to which the Act applies remains governed by it regardless of whether the number of employees at any time falls below the prescribed limit. Applying Section 1(6) to demand notices for periods after 20 October 1989 is not "retrospective" at all, only demands for periods before that date could be called retrospective. The High Court therefore erred in quashing the demands for the post-amendment period, and those demand notices were restored.
Once an establishment is covered by the ESI Act, it cannot escape by later reducing its headcount below the threshold, after the 1989 amendment, coverage continues regardless of staff numbers, and this applies equally to businesses set up before the amendment.
