India’s apex court is the Supreme Court and hence the judgements of the Supreme Court are very important to understand the constitution of India. In several cases, the Supreme Court has given landmark judgements that set precedents. Here is the list of the top 10 landmark judgements of the Supreme Court of India.
1. Keshavananda Bharati Case: This is the historic judgement passed by the Supreme Court in 1973. In this judgement, the basic structure of the Constitution was defined. Supreme Court held in this case that although no part of the Constitution, including Fundamental Rights, was beyond the Parliament’s amending power, the “basic structure of the Constitution could not be abrogated even by a constitutional amendment.
2. A K Gopalan Case: In this case, the judgement was passed in 1950 in which the supreme court contended that there was no violation of Fundamental Rights mentioned in Articles 13, 19, 21, and 22under the provisions of the Preventive Detention Act if the detention was according to the procedure established by law.
3. Maneka Gandhi Case: This case was decided in the year 1978 and the main issue that revolves around this case was whether the Right to Personal Liberty under Article 21 also covers the right to go abroad. The apex court held that it is included in the Right to Personal Liberty under article 21. The apex could also be ruled that the mere existence of an enabling law was not enough to restrain personal liberty. Such a law must also be “just, fair and reasonable.”
4. Minerva Mills Case: This landmark judgement was passed in 1980 in which the Supreme Court struck down the two changes made by the 42nd Amendment Act 1976 to the constitution of India and declared them to be violative of the basic structure. This judgement also strengthens the Basic Structure Doctrine.
5. Shah Bano Begum Case: This is the milestone case for the rights of Muslim women. It was passed in 1985 in which the apex court upheld the right to alimony for a Muslim woman and said that the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC), 1973 applies to all the citizens of the nation irrespective of their religion. This decision of the supreme court set-off a political controversy and the sitting government overturn this decision bypassing the Muslim Women (Protection on Divorce Act), 1986,according to which alimony will be given only during the iddat period (in tune with the Muslim personal law).
6. Vishaka v State of Rajasthan Case: This judgement was passed in 1997 which dealt with sexual harassment at the workplace. In this judgement, the apex court gave a set of guidelines for employers and other responsible persons or institutions to immediately ensure the prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace. Those set of guidelines are called “Vishaka Guidelines”.
7. Lily Thomas v Union of India Case: This judgment was passed in 2013 in which the Supreme Court held that any MP, MLA, or MLC who was found guilty of a crime and awarded minimum 2 years of imprisonment would cease to be a member of that house with immediate effect.
8. Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain Case: This judgement was passed in 1975 in which the apex court applied the theory of Basic Structure and struck down Clause (4) of Article 329-A, which was inserted in 1975 by the 39th Amendment on the ground that it was beyond the amending power of parliament as it destroyed the basic features of the constitution.
9. Shankari Prasad Case: This judgement was passed in the year 1951 in which the validity of the amendment was challenged. The Supreme Court contended that the power of parliament to amend under Article 368 also includes the power to amend the Fundamental Rights guaranteed in Part III of the Constitution.
10. Golaknath Case: This case was decided in 1967 in which the main issue was whether the amendment is a law; and whether Fundamental Rights can be amended or not. Supreme court contended in this case that Fundamental Rights are not amenable to the Parliamentary restriction as mentioned in Article 13 of the constitution and that to amend the Fundamental rights a new Constituent Assembly would be required. Also mentioned that Article 368 gives the procedure for the amendment of the Constitution but does not confer on Parliament the power to amend the Constitution.
About the author –
This blog is authored by Shalini Bhatt, second year law student at Chanakya National Law University, Patna.