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.
This was the lead appeal in a batch of 17 government construction-contract disputes. A contractor was engaged by a government department for construction work; a dispute arose over final payment/escalation, and when the government department failed to appoint an arbitrator as agreed under Clause 64(3) of the General Conditions of Contract, the contractor approached the High Court under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The High Court, rather than enforcing the agreed contractual procedure, directly appointed an independent arbitrator (commonly a retired High Court Judge) in each case, prompting the government to appeal to the Supreme Court across all these matters together.
The Supreme Court held that the High Court erred in appointing an independent arbitrator without first ensuring that the remedies/procedure agreed in the contract (Clause 64(3)) had been exhausted; the terms of an arbitration agreement must be given effect as closely as possible, and departure from the agreed procedure is permissible only in limited circumstances, such as genuine doubt about an arbitrator's independence or failure of the agreed mechanism to function. Since none of the appeals showed such special circumstances, the Court quashed the High Court's orders across the whole batch and directed the government appellants to appoint arbitrators under Clause 64(3) within one month, with contractors to submit their claim statements within four weeks thereafter so arbitration could proceed expeditiously. This judgment finally disposed of the entire batch of appeals, including the lead case.
Parties to a contract with an agreed arbitrator-appointment procedure should expect courts to enforce that procedure rather than substitute their own preferred arbitrator, absent a genuine failure of the contractual mechanism.
