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 company manufacturing and selling industrial and medical gases was assessed by Andhra Pradesh tax authorities on the basis that "Medical Oxygen IP" and "Nitrous Oxide IP" were "unclassified goods" taxable at a high rate (12.5%/14.5%), rather than as "drugs and medicines" taxable at a much lower rate (4%/5%) under Entry 88 of the state VAT Act. The Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal and the High Court both ruled in the company's favour, holding these gases were medicines, so the State appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court examined the definition of "drug" under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which covers substances used for or in the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of disease. It found that Medical Oxygen IP is listed in the Indian Pharmacopoeia, is used in emergencies, surgery, resuscitation and trauma care, and Nitrous Oxide IP is a recognised anesthetic used in surgery and dentistry, both appearing in the National List of Essential Medicines under "Anesthesia." Surveying consistent rulings of several High Courts reaching the same conclusion, the Court held both products squarely qualify as "drugs/medicines" and fall under the lower-tax Entry 88, not the residual unclassified-goods category. The State's appeals were dismissed, with no order as to costs.
For tax classification purposes, courts look at a product's real-world medical use and recognised pharmacopoeial status (not just its everyday label as an "industrial gas") to decide whether it qualifies as a "medicine": a principle relevant to any business whose products straddle an industrial/medical use divide.
