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 Union of India (Railways) and the respondent contractor were in dispute over three work contracts. An arbitrator awarded the contractor a principal sum along with pendente lite (during litigation) and future interest. The contract's General Conditions (Clause 16(2)) stated that "no interest will be payable upon the earnest money or the security deposit or amounts payable to the Contractor under the Contract." The Union's challenge to the interest award failed before a Single Judge and a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court, leading to this appeal.
The Supreme Court held that Clause 16(2)'s bar was widely worded, using the disjunctive "or" to separately cover "amounts payable to the contractor under the contract", not merely earnest money or security deposit, so the narrower "ejusdem generis" reading favoured by the respondent did not apply. Relying on its own precedents (including Garg Builders v. BHEL and the three-judge bench ruling in Bright Power Projects), the Court held that Section 31(7)(a) of the Arbitration Act gives primacy to a contract that expressly excludes interest, and an arbitrator cannot override such a clause. It therefore held the arbitrator had erred in awarding pendente lite and future interest, set aside the High Court's and arbitrator's orders on this point, and allowed the Union's appeal.
If a contract contains a clear clause barring payment of interest on amounts due under it, that bar binds the arbitrator too: parties who sign such a clause cannot later successfully claim interest through arbitration.
