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.
Yashita Sahu and her husband married in India and moved to the United States, where their daughter (a US citizen) was born. After their relationship broke down, the wife obtained a protection order and joint-custody arrangement from a US court, but then brought the child to India without returning as scheduled. The husband obtained an ex-parte order from the US court granting him sole custody and filed a habeas corpus petition before the Rajasthan High Court, which directed the wife to return to the US with the child; she appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court disposed of the appeal with a detailed, conditional set of directions rather than deciding custody on merits itself, since the child was a US citizen and the US court had ongoing jurisdiction. It recorded a detailed undertaking from the husband covering travel costs, housing, medical insurance, and child-support payments. If the wife chose to return to the US, the husband was to fund her and the child's travel and, if she did not wish to live with him, vacate the matrimonial apartment for her use. If she chose not to return, the child was to go to the US with the husband (or his parents), with guaranteed daily video calls with the mother and mandated visits to India twice a year. These arrangements were made interim, to operate only until the US court could issue its own directions by a set date.
In cross-border custody disputes, Indian courts generally try to preserve both parents' meaningful access to the child through practical interim arrangements (travel support, video-calling, visitation) while deferring the final custody decision to the court of the country where the child is normally resident and holds citizenship.
