Sl

NO.
1

Basic Instinct : A landmark in Modern

Constitutional Jurisprudence

Kesavananda Bharati
vs. State of Kerala
(1973)
Life, uninterrupted : SCs chance at
Maneka Gandhi vs
redemption
Union of India
(1978)
Whose law is it anyway? : A
Mohd. Ahmed Khan
flashpoint in religious fundamentalism vs Shah Bano Begum
(1985)

Home on The Range : The emergence

of Second Generation Rights like
Housing

Olga Tellis vs
Bombay Municipal
Corporataion (1985)

Justice Delayed : The Loss Through

Law

Reservations

Death in The Custody

8
9

Independence of The Judiciary as

envisaged by the Constitution of India
Sexual Harassment at The Workplace

10

Euthanasia Debate in India

Union Carbide Corp.

Vs Union of India
(1989)
Indira Sawhney Vs.
Union Of India
(1992)
Nilabati Behera vs
State of Orissa
(1993)
SC ARA vs Union of
India
Vishakha vs State of
Rajasthan (1997)
Aruna Shanbaug vs
Union of India
(2011)

Expanded the
meaning of right to
life
Questioning the
sanctity of personal
religious laws and
bringing the debate
on Uniform Civil
Code
Further expanded the
meaning of right to
life and included
second generation
rights

In the order of appearance, here are the ten judgments and what they made me feel :
Kesavananda Bharati v. State Of Kerala (1973) : Incredibly powerful judgement which has
served to strengthen the power of the constitution of India. The judgement of the court was
instrumental in ensuring that the basic structure of the Indian constitution could remain free of
corruption no matter the scenarios. In ways more than one, this judgement has safeguarded the
democratic fabric of the nation over the 42 years following its pronouncement. The second best
in this collection.
Maneka Gandhi v. Union Of India (1978) : Outlines the liberties that any Indian citizen can
enjoy in the nation. Against the backdrop of the time following the emergency, the court gives

clarity to what the term personal liberty means to each citizen and the fundamental rights that
he/she can enjoy.
Mohamed Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum (1985) : The final judgement of this case started
India off on a path that is has yet to recover from. The strain of religion based politics entered
Indias blood stream for the first time following this judgement. The judgement gave the right to
alimony to Shah Bano Begum which was later revoked by the Indian Parliament. The court also
stressed on the importance of a unified civil code for the nation which the government still has
not been able to implement. This is a classic example of the aftermath swallowing up the actual
judgement itself. What is more interesting is that this case and its judgement even caused rifts
within the Muslim community with a group rejecting the courts right to interpret Muslim laws
and another group supporting the court. Modys analysis of the post-judgement period is rather
spot on in this case.
Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation (1985) :In an unrelated case, famed Bollywood
actor Salman Khan was found guilty by the Bombay sessions court in a case of hit and run ( that
happened in 2002) in May 2015. The case was that Salman driving under the influence of alcohol
had ran over a pavement dweller who died on the spot. The judgement seemed to incense an
entire coterie of Bollywood celebrities who took to social media to vent and fume. Of note was the
singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya whose tweets called the pavement dwellers as stray dogs. Such is
the status that a strata of Indians award to their lesser fortunate counterparts. Such a mental
divide will perhaps never disappear from the minds of people and the court did what best it could
in 1985.The case of Olga Tellis was a litigation where the court ruled in terms of the governments
role in providing housing and infrastructure support to those who cannot afford it. The right to
livelihood and the right to life are rather intricately connected and the courts judgement
pronounced these in exhaustive detail.
Union Carbide v. Union Of India (1989) : The Bhopal gas disaster is a nightmare that the nation
tries its best to forget. But try as we might, the nightmare scenario just refuses to vanish even
after decades. It is only when we get to understand the legal battle that went on after the disaster
do we begin to realize how lack of proper laws ends up with the judiciary being taken for a ride by
an outsider corporation. This is perhaps the one case in this book that deserves a detailed reading
of how the victims ended up with practically pittance as compensation for the horrors that were
unleashed upon them. The Union Carbide corporation still walks free and generations later,
Bhopal still hasnt recovered from the wound.
Indra Sawhney v. Union Of India (1992) :The divisions of caste, creed and class have always
been a bane for India. Time and again social reformers, intellectuals and the common man have
argued for the dismantling of this and yet vote bank politics has ensured that this monster is kept
alive forever. To fully understand the depth of how these tentacles have suffocated the Indian
psyche, a basic understanding of the Mandal commission and the subsequent actions of the V.P.
Singh government is needed. The case of Indra Sawhney was against the backdrop of these caste
based reservations in educational and employment scenarios of governmental organizations.
While the court accepted and understood the mindlessness behind this logic, it could not choose
to act alone. It needed the support of the ruling body to ensure that we phased out caste based
reservations. The judgement came in 1992 and it is now 2015, things have not changed and so
you can guess how far it went !
Nilabati Behera v. State Of Orissa (1993) : The power of the state to act as judge and jury over its
citizens is never so pronounced as an unlawful police detention. Countless men and women pass
away in police custody and never has the Supreme Court taken a tough stance before the Nilabati

Behera case. The judgement put out solid guidelines to be followed by the Police while
performing an arrest and of the fundamental rights that every citizen has while being arrested. It
lays down the foundations of individual liberty and the safeguards that one has against unlawful
detention.
Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union Of India (1993) : Being the apex
court, the appointment of judges at the Supreme Court is an activity that needs to be beyond
reproach. Granted that there would be exceptions and yet the process needs to be as foolproof as
possible. This case from 1993 sought to clarify the process by which judges can be appointed or
removed from the SC.
Vishaka v. State Of Rajasthan (1997) : From my POV as a member of the corporate world, this
one case and its judgement has had the most lasting impact on workplaces across India. The
prevention of harassment at the workplace was lacking a serious framework until the court
stepped in and provided a robust method to combat this rising issue. The judgement and the
following effects might appear a tad too lenient at first glance but Mody also makes mention of
another case. The case of Usha C S v. Madras Refineries finds the Supreme Court coming down
heavily on a petitioner who tries to take undue advantage on the benefits provided by the
prevention of sexual harassment law. Makes for a very good case study.
Aruna Ramachandra Shanbaug v. Union Of India (2011) : If you have not heard of Aruna
Shanbaug, I would suggest that you read up about her. The plight of this woman will make you
uncomfortable to the levels to which humanity can sink to and also that kindness is the most
redeeming virtue of them all. Following a public interest litigation by activist Pinky Virani, the SC
chose to pronounce a detailed judgement on the nature of euthanasia and its applicability in
India. This case sees the SC don its most humanitarian role and straighten out the controversies
that surrounded the debate on euthanasia. This is perhaps the best case study from the whole list.