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.
Section 43B of the Income Tax Act, 1961 generally requires certain deductions (like statutory dues) to be allowed only when actually paid, not merely when the liability accrues. In 2001, Parliament added clause (f) to this section, extending the same "actual payment" rule to deductions claimed for leave encashment liability owed to employees: a move widely seen as reversing an earlier Supreme Court ruling (Bharat Earth Movers) that had allowed such deductions on an accrual basis. Exide Industries challenged clause (f) as unconstitutional, and the Calcutta High Court struck it down as arbitrary, reasoning that it was inconsistent with the rest of Section 43B and was enacted without disclosed reasons simply to override the earlier judgment.
The Supreme Court reversed the High Court and upheld clause (f) as constitutionally valid. It held that a law can only be struck down for lack of legislative competence or for violating fundamental rights, not merely for being "arbitrary" in a general sense, especially in tax matters where legislatures get wide latitude. The Court found no requirement that a tax provision must disclose its objects and reasons to be valid, and held that Parliament is fully entitled to legislatively change the law prospectively even if doing so neutralises the effect of an earlier judicial ruling, since that is different from unconstitutionally "overruling" a court decision. It also rejected the claim that clause (f) was inconsistent with other parts of Section 43B, noting the section already covered a diverse mix of deductions. The appeal was allowed.
Parliament can change tax rules going forward even if doing so effectively undoes the practical benefit of an earlier Supreme Court ruling, and courts will not strike down a law merely by labelling it "arbitrary" without identifying an actual constitutional defect.
