SR Bommai v/s Union of India (1994)

1. Shah Bano Case (1985)

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2. Nirbhaya Case (2012)

In 1985, a case of Muhammad Ahmad Khan v/s Shah Bano Begum case came under the notice of the Supreme Court which questioned the rights given to Muslim women. A Muslim woman named Shah Bano demanded the maintenance after her husband divorced her. She demanded that the amount must continue for her as she had no other way of funds and that her husband should give her even after the iddat period. Iddat is the period a Muslim woman observes after the divorce or death of her husband during which she is not supposed to marry another man....

3. Habeas Corpus Case (1975)

In 2012, in a private bus, a 23-year-old girl was gang raped by 6 men in the south Delhi region. Her name was Jyoti Singh but due to the government’s orders in cases of sexual assault, the victim’s name was not allowed to be used, the case was referred to as Nirbhaya....

4. Triple Talaq Judgement (2016)

The literal meaning of the term Habeas Corpus is “you should have the body”. It was the term coined when a person, or more peculiarly, a prisoner could approach the court if he wanted for his unlawful detention....

5. Independent Thought v/s Union of India (2017)

This case is referred to as one of the most important judgements in the Indian history of cases as it led to the discontinuation of talaq-e-biddat, a term that allowed Muslim men to divorce their wives by simply uttering the word talaq three times....

6. Maneka Gandhi v/s Union of India (1978)

This case before the Supreme Court of India argued that if the girl involved in marriage is of 15-18 years, then the sexual intercourse would be referred to as marital rape. It involved repeated use of Article 21 that stated that every girl has the right to live her life with dignity....

7. Kesavananda Bharti v/s State of Kerala (1973)

Maneka Gandhi filed a case in the court regarding the seizure of her passport due to security reasons, and defined it as the threat to one’s personal liberty. She stated that this was not at all in the interests of the public and it deprived one of it’s own individual rights....

8. AK Gopalan v/s State of Madras (1950)

It is also known as the fundamental rights case as it resulted in the decision that certain rights can’t be changed in the constitution and they need to be followed. It was carried forward by a panel of 15 judges, one of the largest benches in the history of legal cases of India....

9. KS Puttaswamy v/s Union of India (2017)

This case revolved primarily around the basic concepts of Article 21 which stated that it needed to resort to the fundamental right of personal liberty. However, cases such as detention of many political leaders during national emergency in 1947, and detaining anyone without trials or court hearings in 1950 led the communist leader AK Gopalan to fight for rights of an individual....

10. MC Mehta v/s Union of India (1986)

This case led to the belief in existence and importance of the fundamental right of Right to privacy which in earlier cases was observed that this right is not considered as an important one. Thus, this case overruled the judgements of many previous cases such as The ADM Jabalpur Case which was the suspension of Article 21. It also stated on grounds that there would be no biasing or discrimination on the basis of homosexuality. Everyone has the right to privacy and the right to live a life of liberty and dignity....

11. Indra Sawhney v/s Union of India (1992)

This was a case that dealt with environmental advocay. MC Mehta India’s green lawyer argued the closure of industries having adverse effects on people and the environment. This case came by after the Oleum as leakage, and the Bhopal Gas Tragedy....

12. SR Bommai v/s Union of India (1994)

Also known as the Mandal Verdict, this case revolves around the matters of providing reservation to the OBCs by the removal of creamy layer or not. This case argued for the fact that reservation removed equality and this would deter other castes from receiving equal opportunities as case can’t be the term defined for backwardness....

13. State of Haryana v/s State of Punjab(2002)

This case argued for the centre state relations as and how concerned with the Article 356. It states that under Presidential rule, if the state is unable to function properly then the central government can take the full responsibility. However, the motion stated was that if under presidential ruling, the governor takes further decisions that is appointed by the president itself, it rules out the thought of federal system and makes the functioning of the government inefficient....

14. Coca Cola v/s Bisleri (2009)

The dispute of the formation of Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal was resolved in this case. A 214 km long tunnel was supposed to be built to divide water equally among both the states, out of which the 92 km had been built by Haryana, but the remaining 122 km was remaining to be built by Punjab....

15. Article 370 Judgement (2019)

Also referred to as the Maaza Conflict, this case was concerned with the laws related to trademark and one’s authority over a product. When in Turkey, Maaza was registered officially under Bisleri, Coca Cola had bought the company and it’s name. Thus, Bisleri could not sell it anywhere accept Turkey....

16. Lily Thomas v/s Union of India (2000)

One of the most important and controversial judgements in the history of Indian judiciary has been the removal of Article 370. Article 370 provided Jammu & Kashmir a special status, one different from India and other states and restricted the involvement of the Union government in matters of security, external affairs and defence of J&K....

17. Arnesh Kumar v/s State of Bihar (2014)

This case again was a development in the direction of implementation of the need of Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Lily Thomas, a lawyer argued for the changes and improvement in laws concerned with family and marriage....

18. 3 Judges Case (1998)

This was the case which had a high support of activists for men’s rights. It revolved around the story of Arnesh Kumar who was accused of asking dowry from his wife, and his wife stated that she was forced to pay the amount and on failing to do so, she was kicked out of the house. Arnesh was seeking an anticipatory bail but could not receive so. Thus , he reached the court regarding this issue....

19. TSR Subramanian v/s Union of India (2013)

In 1981, a single judge case was presented before the supreme court, called The SP Gupta v/s Union of India that argued for the then regime of executive being more powerful than the judiciary....

20. Berubari Union Case (1960)

An IAS Officer from the UP Cadre, TSR Subramanian argued for the officers and civil servants to not be objected to the political influence and that they should have a freedom of opinion, rather than striving forcefully on what the politician says....

21. Shankari Prasad v/s Union of India (1951)

This dealt with the partitioning of Berubari, a state in West Bengal and how much part of it is concerned with India and how much with Pakistan. Under Article 368 & Article 3, the court gave the judgement that equal parts would be divided to both the countries....

22. Minerva Mills Case v/s Union of India (1980)

This case argued for the fact that the Judiciary was not entitled to amending fundamental rights. Shankari Prasad, a landlord owner from Bihar registered a case as his land was seized by the government....

23. Waman Rao v/s Union of India (1981)

This case was a landmark judgement as it evolved the doctrine (basic set of rights) of the Constitution. It stated that India, being a sovereign country has some rights on which neither the Legislature, the Judiciary or the Executive had excessive rights or rights less than the constitution to amend it. Apart from this, the 3 functioning bodies did not have the authority to destroy rights....

24. Bilkis Bano Case (2023)

This case was an addition to the judgement of Kesavananda Bharti (1973) with several amendments in Article 31 and it’s sections. It said that property seizure of owners did not violate the laws of constitution and referred to sections A, B and C of the Constitution....

25. NOTA Judgement(2013)

It was inn 2002 during the riots between Hindus and Muslim (communal riots) in Gujarat, a Muslim woman was gang raped and the mobs even tried to kills rest of her family members who had decided to flee from the place. She was 5 months pregnant at that time and decided to approach the court....

UPSC Questions on Famous Landmark Cases in India

NOTA meaning None of The Above is a term that is still in discussion to be used in polls or not. It’s a term that the PUCL (People’s Union for Civil Liberties) wanted to have included in the evms, so as in to provide the political parties with a wider perspective of their voters. The machines would have an option of none of the above that would say the voter does not want to vote for any....