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.
Yum! Restaurants (Marketing) Pvt. Ltd. (YRMPL) was set up as a subsidiary of Yum! Restaurants India (the franchisor of KFC and Pizza Hut outlets) to pool and manage advertising and marketing funds contributed by franchisees, operating on a "non-profit, mutual" basis under government approval. It claimed its surplus income was exempt from tax under the doctrine of mutuality, which generally exempts "self-dealing" among a closed group of contributors from being taxed as income. Tax authorities at every level, the Assessing Officer, appellate commissioner, Tribunal, and the Delhi High Court, rejected this claim and taxed the surplus.
The Supreme Court upheld the tax authorities, applying a well-established three-part test for mutuality: complete identity between contributors and beneficiaries, the entity acting purely as an instrument of its members, and the impossibility of members profiting from their own contributions. The Court found this failed because Pepsi Foods Ltd., which was not a franchisee or member, also contributed funds without being entitled to share in any surplus, breaking the "common identity" requirement. It further found that the parent company, Yum! Restaurants India, enjoyed sole discretion over whether to contribute at all (unlike franchisees, who had fixed mandatory contributions) while still controlling the fund's management, which was inconsistent with genuine mutuality. The Court also left open, for a separate pending rectification application, a fallback argument that the money was never YRMPL's income at all. The appeal was dismissed in favour of the tax department.
A "common fund" set up among franchisees or members loses its tax-exempt mutual character the moment outside parties who are not equal members contribute money or control the fund's affairs: genuine mutuality requires a closed, equal circle of contributors and beneficiaries.
