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 appellant was the former MD & CEO of Punjab National Bank (PNB) during the period of the Nirav Modi/Gitanjali Gems fraud, and the CBI's charge sheet alleged at most that she failed to take preventive steps against the fraud. In proceedings under Section 241 of the Companies Act (dealing with oppression and mismanagement of Gitanjali Gems), the NCLT and NCLAT had passed orders freezing her personal assets and restricting her to Rs. 1 lakh per month for expenses, even though she had no role in managing Gitanjali Gems itself.
The Supreme Court held that the powers under Sections 241, 337 and 339 of the Companies Act, invoked for mismanagement of a particular company, can only be exercised against persons connected with the mismanagement of that very company, not against the head of an entirely different organisation such as PNB. Since the appellant had no connection to the management of Gitanjali Gems, the NCLT and NCLAT had no jurisdiction to freeze her assets under these provisions. The Court set aside both the NCLT and NCLAT orders and allowed the appeal, while clarifying that this ruling would not affect the separate ongoing CBI or SFIO investigations against her.
Statutory powers meant to address fraud or mismanagement within a specific company cannot be stretched to freeze the personal assets of an outsider who had no role in managing that company: jurisdiction under such provisions is confined to the company actually under scrutiny.
