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 had mortgaged its property as security for a loan taken by other borrowers. When the loan went unpaid, the bank auctioned the mortgaged property, and the mortgagor challenged the auction sale before the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT). The Bombay High Court ruled that the mortgagor could appeal to the DRAT without making the "pre-deposit" that the law normally requires before an appeal can even be heard. The bank appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that Section 18 of the SARFAESI Act creates an absolute bar on entertaining an appeal before the DRAT unless the borrower first deposits 50% (reducible to not less than 25% by the Tribunal, for recorded reasons) of the debt claimed. It held that a mortgagor/guarantor who mortgages property to secure someone else's loan stands in the same position as a borrower for this purpose, and the High Court had no power under Article 226 to waive this mandatory deposit requirement, which only the DRAT can reduce. The Court set aside the High Court's orders, allowed the bank's appeals, but as a concession extended the time for the auction purchaser to pay the balance sale price and protected the mortgagor's right to file a time-barred-free appeal within 30 days.
Anyone challenging a bank's SARFAESI auction before the DRAT, whether the actual borrower or someone who mortgaged property as security for another's loan, must make the legally mandated pre-deposit; courts cannot simply waive this requirement.
