Land mark Supreme court Judgment of all time.

 Landmark supreme court judgment of all time

Jury decision overturned by High Court.

open and shut case

This case is notable for being the last case when a jury trial was held in India. KM Nanavati, a naval officer, murdered his wife's lover, Prem Ahuja. The jury ruled in favour of Nanavati and declared him "not guilty" which was eventually set aside by the Bombay High Court.

Keshavananda Bharti vs State of Kerala - 1973. The mile stone Judgment  in Indian Legal History.

Parliament's prevented from taking away individual rights.

The Supreme Court ruled that Parliament could not curtail any of the Fundamental Rights of individuals mentioned in the Constitution. Parliament's overarching ambitions nipped in the bud

Elected representatives cannot be given the benefit of doubt

A Landmark case which introduced the concept of "basic structure" of the constitution of India and declared that those points decided as basic structure could not be amended by the Parliament. The case was triggered by the 42nd Amendment Act.

MC Mehta v Union Of India - - 1986

Mounting environment-related concerns.

A PIL filed by MC Mehta in 1986 enlarged the scope and ambit of Article 21 and Article 32 to include the right to healthy and pollution-free environment.

 Sexual harassment at work place-(Vishaka v State of Rajasthan) - 1997

Definition of sexual harassment and guidelines to deal with it laid down.

In this case Vishakha and other women groups filed a PIL against State of Rajasthan and Union of India to enforce fundamental rights for working women under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. which resulted in the introduction of Vishaka Guidelines. The judgment of August 1997 also provided basic definitions of sexual harassment at the workplace and provided guidelines to deal with it. A landmark judgment In which many foreign laws were quoted and adopted.

State of Tamil Nadu V Suhas Katti – Nov 2004

Short conviction time of seven months.

This was notable for being the first case involving conviction under the Information Technology Act, 2000. A family friend of a divorced woman was accused of posting her number online on messenger groups which led to her being harassed by multiple lewd messages. The accused was later convicted and sentenced.

 Rameshwar Prasad v Union Of India - 2005

Dissolution of Bihar Assembly unwarranted.

The petitioner challenged the constitutional validity of a notification which ordered dissolution of the legislative Assembly of the state of Bihar. The dissolution had been ordered on the ground that attempts are being made to cobble a majority by illegal means and lay claim to form the government in the state which if continued would lead to tampering with constitutional provisions. The Supreme Court held that the aforementioned notification was unconstitutional.

Priyadarshini Mattoo Case - Oct 2006

14-year-old fight for justice gets results.

In this matter the Supreme Court had commuted the death sentence awarded to prime accused Santosh Singh (son of former IPS officer), to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of the 23-year-old law student, Priyadarshini Mattoo.

 Sanjay Dutt plays prisoner in real life - 2007

Conviction under TADA changed under milder Arms Act.

Well-known actor Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to five year imprisonment by the Supreme Court for illegal weapons possession in a case linked to the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai. The Supreme Court also cited that the circumstances and nature of offence were too serious for the 53-year-old actor to be released on probation.

 Child sexual assault not to be taken lightly - 2011

Punishment not enough for child abusers.

In a landmark judgment the Supreme Court observed “Children are the greatest gift to humanity. The sexual abuse of children is one of the most heinous crimes”.

 NOTA Judgment - 2013

The right to reject candidates formalized.

In 2013, the Supreme Court introduced negative voting as an option for the country’s electorate. According to this judgment an individual would have the option of not voting for any candidate (None-Of-The-Above) if they don’t find any of the candidates worthy.

Illegalising convicted MPs and MLAs (Lily Thomas v Union Of India) - July 2013

Effected much-needed cleansing of legislative bodies.

The Supreme Court of India, in this judgment, ruled that any member of Parliament (MP), member of the legislative assembly (MLA) or member of a legislative council (MLC) who was convicted of a crime and awarded a minimum of two-year imprisonment, would lose membership of the House with immediate effect.

 Recognising the Third gender (National Legal Services Authority v Union of India) - April 2014

Third gender acknowledged as citizens with rights.

In a landmark judgment the Supreme Court in April, 2014 recognised transgender persons as a third gender and ordered the government to treat them as minorities and extend reservations in jobs, education and other amenities.

Section 66A revised (Shreya Singhal v Union of India) - March 2015

Cracking down on "offensive" online content not easy.

Controversial section 66A of the Information Technology Act which allowed arrests for objectionable content posted on the internet was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in March 2015.

Right To Privacy Now a Fundamental Right Under Article 21 of Indian Constitution-2017

In the case of Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, 2012, a Constitutional bench of Nine-Judge of the Supreme Court declared that the Right to Privacy is a Fundamental Right. In a unanimous decision, the bench held that right to privacy is an intrinsic part of right to life and personal liberty envisaged under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. 

Relaxation of the six months cooling off period in Divorce cases-201

In Amandeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur. The Supreme Court held that the period of six months is not mandatory for divorce with mutual consent. Section 13B(2) of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 stipulates to wait for a minimum period of six months in order to get a decree of divorce in the case of parties who are seeking divorce with mutual consent. 

158-year-old controversial legal provision of section 377, thus legitimizing same-sex relationship - s.c -2018

A five-judge bench at the country’s highest court ruled that a 160-year-old law banning sex “against the order of nature” amounted to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and was unconstitutional.

RTI Act supersedes the Official Secrets Act-2019

in an important observation, the Supreme Court said the Centre could not withhold disclosure of documents citing 'national security' as a reason, if concealing the documents could do more harm than disclosing them. The observation dismissed the Center's primary objection of privilege on the documents.

International laws

Legal Instruments

Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102)

A reference for the development of social security systems, Convention No. 102 is the flagship of the up-to-date social security Conventions since it is deemed to embody the internationally accepted definition of the very principle of social security.  Convention No. 102 is unique for both its conceptual formulation of social security, and the guidance.

Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202)

Recommendation No. 202 is the first international instrument to offer guidance to countries to close social security gaps and progressively achieve universal protection through the establishment and maintenance of comprehensive social security systems. To this aim, the Recommendation calls for (1) the implementation, as a priority, of social protection floors (SPF) as a fundamental element.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)

Article 9 recognizes the right of everyone to social security. Article 10(2) recognizes the right of working mothers “to adequate social security benefits”. Article 10(3) requires States parties to undertake special measures of protection and assistance for children and young persons.   Link to instrument

Legal Cases

Austerity measures that contravene Conventions by reducing social protection and increasing poverty.

In its general report of 2009, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) observed that the global financial crisis was posing a real threat to the financial viability and sustainable development of social security systems and undermining the application of ILO social security standards.

Bishwa Kumar Jain B com (h). L.L.B. DIP Cyber Law. Member International Arbitration U.K. Practice Advocate Supreme Court and High Court of Delhi.