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.
Vijay Karia and other Indian shareholders of Ravin Cables Limited had entered a Joint Venture Agreement with the Italian company Prysmian Cavi E Sistemi SRL, which took a 51% stake in Ravin. Disputes arose over the running of the joint venture and alleged breaches of the agreement, leading Prysmian to invoke arbitration under LCIA (London Court of International Arbitration) Rules. A sole arbitrator in London passed four awards against the Indian shareholders, including directing a sale of their shares. The Bombay High Court held these foreign awards enforceable in India, and the shareholders appealed to the Supreme Court resisting enforcement.
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeals and upheld enforcement of the foreign awards. It held that under Section 48 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, the grounds to resist enforcement of a foreign award are extremely narrow, and Indian courts cannot re-examine the merits of the dispute or act as a court of appeal over the arbitrator's findings. The Court went through each objection raised (alleged violation of the JVA's valuation procedure, alleged bias of the arbitrator, alleged breach of FEMA rules, alleged perversity and conflicting findings) and rejected all of them, finding none met the high threshold of "public policy of India" or other Section 48 grounds. It also awarded costs of INR 50 lakhs against the appellants for what it called speculative litigation attempting to re-open a dispute already decided on merits by four detailed arbitral awards and the High Court.
Indian courts give strong deference to foreign arbitration awards and will not reopen the merits of a case merely because a party disagrees with the outcome; objections to enforcement under Section 48 must fit narrowly-defined grounds like genuine bias or fundamental violation of Indian public policy, not general unhappiness with the result.
