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.
The Superintendent of Post Offices, Hanamkonda, had invited applications for a departmental postman examination in 2013. One candidate, G. Vijender, was selected and appointed, while the respondent, G. Ramesh, stood second on the merit list. After a complaint that Vijender had secured selection fraudulently, he was suspended and eventually dismissed from service in 2016 following a departmental inquiry. The respondent then sought to be appointed in Vijender's place, and both the Central Administrative Tribunal and the High Court ruled in his favour, directing his appointment as postman.
The Supreme Court held that once a selection process is complete and the selected candidate has been appointed, the select list is exhausted, and any later vacancy arising from that candidate's departure (even through dismissal) must be treated as a fresh vacancy to be filled through a fresh recruitment process: it does not revive the old select list or entitle the next-ranked candidate to appointment. Relying on its earlier decision in Thrissur District Co-operative Bank Limited vs. Delson Davis P., the Court held that the Tribunal and High Court had erred in holding that the respondent had a vested right to appointment merely because he was second on the list. The Court allowed the Union of India's appeal, set aside the High Court's judgment, and dismissed the respondent's original application seeking appointment.
Coming second on a selection merit list does not create an automatic right to appointment if the first-ranked candidate is later removed, once a select list is used up by filling the vacancy, any subsequent vacancy must ordinarily go through a fresh selection process rather than falling to the next person on the old list.
