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.
In 2018, a two-judge Supreme Court bench (Justices Lokur and Gupta) had ruled against Sesa Sterlite/Vedanta and the State of Goa in a dispute over mining leases in Goa ("Goa Foundation II"). Years later, well after both those judges had retired, the State of Goa and Vedanta filed review petitions asking the Court to reconsider that 2018 judgment. The State's petitions came nearly two years late, and Vedanta's came nearly 2.5 years (907 days) late, with no real explanation offered for the delay.
The Supreme Court Rules require a review petition to be filed within 30 days of the judgment under challenge. The Court noted that both the State of Goa and Vedanta filed their review petitions only after the two judges who authored the original ruling had retired, and held that "such practice must be firmly disapproved to preserve the institutional sanctity of the decision making of this Court." The petitions were dismissed primarily on the ground of delay/limitation, but the Court also independently examined the merits and found no legitimate grounds for review in any event.
A review petition against a Supreme Court judgment must be filed within 30 days; waiting years, especially until the judges who decided the case have retired, will not be excused, and courts view such timing with suspicion regardless of the underlying merits.
