Padmavati v. Dugganaika
Two strangers hitch a ride in a jeep going nowhere near them, and a wheel bolt gives way. The Karnataka High Court's answer — that an uninvited, unpaid passenger who chooses to get
Gaya Prasad v. Bhagat Singh
A false report to the police that never should have gone anywhere still sent an innocent man through a criminal trial he was bound to win. The Allahabad High Court's five-part test
Cole v. Turner
Two people brushing past each other in a crowded lane is not a tort. The same touch, done in anger, is battery. Chief Justice Holt's one-sentence rule — the least touching of anoth
Barnett v. Chelsea & Kensington Hospital Management Committee
A doctor who never even examined a dying man was, on paper, plainly negligent — turning away a patient without so much as a look is about as careless as medicine gets. He still won
Erven Warnink BV v. J. Townend & Sons (Hull) Ltd (The Advocaat Case)
Nobody was pretending to sell the Dutch original. The imitation "advocaat" was openly a different, cheaper drink — it just borrowed the name. The House of Lords had to decide wheth
Sim v. Stretch
A single-line telegram announcing that a maid had gone back to work for her old employer became the case that gave English law its enduring test for what actually counts as defamat
Cassidy v. Ministry of Health
He went in for a routine hand operation on two stiff fingers and came out with a hand stiff all over — but he could not point to which particular hospital employee had been careles
P. Seetharamayya v. G. Mahalakshmamma
Every landowner in this dispute was doing exactly the same reasonable thing — protecting their own field from floodwater. That one neighbour's protection meant more water landed on
Narmada Bachao Andolan v. Union of India
A movement named for the river it was trying to save asked the Supreme Court to halt one of independent India's biggest dam projects. The Court split 2:1 and let construction conti
Trail Smelter Arbitration (United States v. Canada)
Sulphur dioxide fumes from a Canadian smelter at Trail, British Columbia, damaged crops and trees across the border in Washington State. The United States and Canada sent the dispu
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala
A religious head challenged Kerala land reform laws. The case grew into a challenge to the 24th, 25th and 29th Amendments to the Constitution. Thirteen Judges heard it for over 65
State of West Bengal v. Union of India
West Bengal told the Union it had no right to seize the State's own coal-bearing land without asking first. The Supreme Court's answer settled, in the plainest possible terms, whet
A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras
Decided barely four months after the Constitution came into force, this was independent India's first real test of what "personal liberty" actually meant. The answer the Supreme Co
Basheshar Nath v. Commissioner of Income Tax
Basheshar Nath had already settled his tax dispute and moved on — until the very Act his settlement rested on was struck down as unconstitutional. When the government argued his ow
Indra Sawhney v. Union of India
The Mandal Commission's 27% OBC quota split the country before it ever reached the Supreme Court. Nine judges spent months untangling caste, class and merit, and produced the frame
Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India
Indra Sawhney had said reservation could not rest on economic criteria alone. Three decades later, Parliament created a 10% quota that did exactly that — and excluded SC/ST/OBC cit
A.K. Roy v. Union of India
A sitting Member of Parliament, detained under a security law rushed through by presidential ordinance, argued he deserved the same lawyer and cross-examination rights as any accus
K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (Right to Privacy Case)
A retired judge's challenge to the Aadhaar biometric identity scheme forced the Supreme Court to answer a question it had dodged for decades: is there a fundamental right to privac
Additional District Magistrate, Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (Habeas Corpus Case)
During the 1975 Emergency, thousands of people were locked up without trial and told no court in the country could even ask why. Four judges of the Supreme Court agreed. One did no
State of Kerala v. N.M. Thomas
A clerk who passed the promotion test on his own was passed over for others who hadn't — because Kerala gave SC/ST clerks extra time to qualify. He called it unequal treatment. Sev
Collector of Madura v. Moottoo Ramalinga Sathupathy
A widow adopted a son to her dead husband without his say-so — and a government tried to seize an entire zamindari because of it. The Privy Council's answer became the single most-
Lalman Shukla v. Gauri Dutt
A servant was sent out to search for his employer's missing nephew — and only after he had already left the house did his employer announce a cash reward for finding the boy. The s
Ramsgate Victoria Hotel Co. Ltd. v. Montefiore
A man applied for hotel-company shares in June and paid his deposit. The company said nothing back for nearly five months — and then, in November, tried to allot him the shares as
Moses v. Macferlan
A man endorsed promissory notes to another on an express promise that he would never be sued on them — and was sued on them anyway, in a court he could not defend himself in. He pa
Hunoomanpersaud Panday v. Mussumat Babooee Munraj Koonweree
A widow, guardian of her infant son, mortgaged his ancestral estate to a banker to stop the government seizing the family's villages over unpaid revenue. When the boy grew up, he s
Supriyo @ Supriya Chakraborty v. Union of India
Fifty-two petitioners, twenty connected cases, one question the Constitution itself never quite answers: does the right to marry — or something close enough to it — belong to queer
Amardeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur
A husband and wife married in 1994 had lived apart since 2008 and settled all their disputes. They asked the Supreme Court to waive the six-month wait under Section 13B(2) of the H
Mohori Bibee v. Dharmodas Ghose
A minor signed a mortgage for Rs. 20,000 in favour of a money lender whose attorney knew he was under age. The minor sued to have the mortgage declared void. The lender's executors
D. Velusamy v. D. Patchaiammal
A woman claimed maintenance under Section 125 Cr.P.C. saying she had married the appellant. He said he was already married to someone else and had never married her. The dispute al
T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India
A retired planter filed a writ petition about illegal timber felling near his own Nilgiris estate. The Supreme Court never closed it. Thirty years and well over a thousand orders l
D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal
The Executive Chairman of a legal aid society wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India about newspaper reports of deaths in police lock-ups. The Court treated the letter as a p
Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M.
A homeopathy student converted to Islam and married a man of her own choice. Her father used a habeas corpus (a court order to produce a detained person) petition to get the marria
Indra Sarma v. V.K.V. Sarma
A woman lived for years with a married man who had two children. When he left without maintaining her, she claimed protection under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence A
Kamal Gupta v. L.R. Builders Pvt. Ltd.
A family settlement (an arrangement among family members about family property) between Pawan Gupta and Kamal Gupta led to arbitration. A son who had not signed the settlement, and
Energy Watchdog v. Central Electricity Regulatory Commission
Power generators won competitive bids to supply electricity at fixed tariffs. When Indonesian coal prices rose, they asked for extra tariff. Their first ground was force majeure (a
Nabha Power Ltd. v. Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd.
A power generator and a State power utility disagreed over how coal cost is counted in a monthly energy charge formula. The formula is in their power purchase agreement (a promise
Alembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd. v. Rohit Prajapati
Three Ankleshwar (Gujarat) drug and chemical makers ran for years without an environmental clearance (EC) (a government approval, needed before a project starts, of its effect on t
I.R. Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu
A Nine-Judge Constitution Bench had to decide whether Parliament can place laws in the Ninth Schedule after 24 April 1973 and shut out every fundamental-rights challenge. The Court
Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India
After the security advisory and the events of 4 and 5 August 2019, phone, internet and landline services were shut down in Jammu and Kashmir. Movement and assembly were restricted
M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Taj Trapezium Case)
Acid rain, soot and coal smoke from Agra's foundries were yellowing the marble of the Taj Mahal. After monitoring the petition for over three years, the Supreme Court ordered 292 i
M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Vehicular Pollution Case)
Delhi's population had grown about 18 times since 1947, and its vehicles by about one lakh every year. On a public interest petition by M.C. Mehta, the Supreme Court set up a commi
Katta Sujatha Reddy v. Siddamsetty Infra Projects (P) Ltd.
A purchaser paid Rs. 34,80,850 of Rs. 40,20,000 for 40.08 acres in 1997 but did not pay the balance within three months. It sued for specific performance (a court order to carry ou
National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India
Transgender persons asked the Supreme Court to recognise a gender identity (a person's own sense of being male, female or transgender) other than the male or female recorded at bir
Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v. Union of India
Tanneries in five districts of Tamil Nadu let untreated waste flow into fields and the Palar river. The Supreme Court watched the matter for about five years and then decided it on
Om Prakash v. Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd.
A truck owner spent days with the police searching for his stolen truck. He then reported the theft to his insurer eight days after it happened. The insurer rejected the claim for
Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma
Two Supreme Court benches disagreed on what the 2005 amendment to section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 gave a daughter. A three-Judge Bench heard the reference with connecte
Cox v. Ministry of Justice
A prisoner working in a prison kitchen dropped a sack of rice on the catering manager's back. The UK Supreme Court asked whether the prison service was vicariously liable (answerab
Seema v. Ashwani Kumar
While hearing a transfer petition, the Supreme Court saw that people were denying their marriages because most States kept no official record. It asked all States and Union Territo
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. v. Saw Pipes Ltd.
ONGC deducted agreed liquidated damages (a sum the parties fix in advance as payable on breach) from the bills of a pipe supplier that delivered late. An arbitral tribunal ordered
Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India
Hindu husbands married under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 embraced Islam and then married a second wife, with the first marriage still in force. Four women went to the Supreme Cour
Sastri Yagnapurushadji v. Muldas Bhudardas Vaishya
The Satsangis, followers of the Swaminarayan sect, said their temples were outside the Hindu religion and closed to non-Satsangi Harijans. The Supreme Court asked who is a Hindu an
Savitri Pandey v. Prem Chandra Pandey
A wife, who said the marriage was never consummated, won a divorce from the Family Court on the ground of desertion by her husband. The High Court set it aside. The Supreme Court h
Prakash v. Phulavati
A daughter sued for a share in family property. Her father had died in 1988, long before the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 made daughters coparceners (equal members of the
Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan
After an alleged gang rape of a social worker in a Rajasthan village, women's groups filed a class action under Article 32. There was no law on sexual harassment at work. The Supre
Shreya Singhal v. Union of India
Section 66A of the Information Technology Act made it a crime to send information that is grossly offensive, annoying or inconvenient. Petitioners said it chokes free speech online
M.C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath
A newspaper report said a motel run by a Union Minister's family was diverting the Beas river in Himachal Pradesh to save its resort. The Supreme Court took notice of the report. I
Animal Welfare Board of India v. A. Nagaraja
Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu and bullock-cart races in Maharashtra were challenged as cruel to bulls. The Supreme Court examined the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and the
Hanuman Laxman Aroskar v. Union of India
Two appellants challenged the environmental clearance for a greenfield international airport at Mopa in Goa. The National Green Tribunal had upheld it. The Supreme Court held that
Githa Hariharan v. Reserve Bank of India
Two mothers challenged Section 6(a) of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, which names the father as natural guardian and the mother after him . The Supreme Court did no
Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India
Chemical units in Bichhri village, Rajasthan, made a toxic chemical called H acid and left highly toxic sludge and waste water behind. This poisoned wells and soil over about 350 h
M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (2002) — CNG buses in Delhi
In the long running Delhi air pollution case, the Union of India asked to keep running diesel buses and to stop the full switch of buses to CNG. The Supreme Court refused. It held
Sebastian M. Hongray v. Union of India
Two men taken to an Army camp in Manipur in 1982 had disappeared. The Supreme Court had issued a writ of habeas corpus for their production, but the Union of India could not produc
Chairman, Railway Board v. Mrs. Chandrima Das
A Bangladeshi woman was gang-raped by men including Railway employees at the Yatri Niwas of Howrah Station. An advocate filed a writ petition in the Calcutta High Court, which awar
M.P. State Electricity Board v. Shail Kumari
A cyclist was electrocuted by a live wire lying on a road. The Electricity Board said a stranger had stolen electricity from its line and the wire had fallen. The Supreme Court hel
Chanmuniya v. Virendra Kumar Singh Kushwaha
A widow said she was married by custom to her late husband's younger brother, and asked for maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The High Court said no
Dolly Rani v. Manish Kumar Chanchal
Two commercial pilots got a marriage certificate and a State registration without performing any marriage ceremony. Later they fought, and each filed cases against the other. On th
Lily Thomas v. Union of India
A Hindu husband converted to Islam and married again, while his first marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act still subsisted. The Supreme Court held that conversion does not dissolv
Louis De Raedt v. Union of India
Foreign missionaries who had lived in India for decades on residential permits claimed Indian citizenship under Article 5(c) of the Constitution and challenged an order asking them
M.K. Janardhanam v. District Collector, Tiruvallur
A landowner filed a contempt petition in the Madras High Court. He said officials had not stopped illegal quarrying of sand from the Kusasthalai River, despite an order of 8 Februa
State Bank of India v. Shyama Devi
A bank clerk, Kapil Deo Shukla, took money that a customer's husband meant for her savings account. He made false entries in her pass book to hide it. The Supreme Court held that t
Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India
The Government impounded Maneka Gandhi's passport in public interest and refused to give reasons. She challenged the order under Article 32. A seven-Judge Bench delivered five opin
Felthouse v. Bindley
A nephew was selling his farming stock by auction. His uncle had written that he would consider a horse his at a stated price if he heard nothing more. The nephew never replied, an
Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. v. Selfridge & Co. Ltd.
A tyre maker required its dealer to make retailers promise not to sell below list prices. A retailer, Selfridge, gave the promise to the dealer and then undersold. The House of Lor
Dick Bentley Productions Ltd v. Harold Smith (Motors) Ltd
A car dealer told a buyer that a Bentley had done only 20,000 miles since a replacement engine and gearbox. His statement turned out to be quite wrong. The Court of Appeal held tha
Entick v. Carrington
The King's messengers broke into a writer's house on a Secretary of State's warrant to seize him and all his books and papers. The jury found the facts and left the law to the Cour
Rylands v. Fletcher
Mill owners built a reservoir over old, forgotten coal workings. The water broke through and flooded a neighbour's mine. The owners had taken no part in the work and knew nothing o
Stephens v. Myers
A parish meeting voted to turn a noisy member out of the room. He said he would rather pull the chairman out of the chair, and advanced on him with a clenched fist. A churchwarden
White v. John Warrick & Co. Ltd.
A newsagent hired a delivery cycle. A spare cycle was supplied, and its saddle slipped and threw him off. The hire agreement said the company was not liable for personal injuries t
Attorney-General v. P.Y.A. Quarries Ltd.
A quarry near Pontardawe in Glamorgan threw stones, dust and vibration onto neighbouring houses. The Attorney-General sued for a public nuisance (a nuisance affecting a class of th
American Cyanamid Co. v. Ethicon Ltd
A company with a patent for absorbable surgical stitches asked for an interim injunction (a temporary court order that lasts until the trial) against a rival. Two courts below had
Armory v. Delamirie
A chimney sweeper's boy found a jewel and took it to a goldsmith's shop to learn what it was. The goldsmith's apprentice took out the stones and handed back only the socket. The re
Baker v. Bolton
A stage-coach overturned on the way from Portsmouth to London. The passenger's wife died about a month later. The ruling limited what the husband could recover for her death. Quick
Balfour v. Balfour
A husband in Ceylon promised his wife £30 a month while she stayed in England on medical advice. After the husband suggested they remain apart, she sued on that promise as a contra
Bird v. Jones
Part of Hammersmith Bridge footway was fenced off for paying spectators of a regatta. Bird climbed the fence and was stopped by two policemen. He was told he could go back and cros
Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co.
A company advertised that it would pay £100 to anyone who caught influenza after using its smoke ball as directed. It said £1,000 was deposited with a bank to show its sincerity. T
Derry v. Peek
Directors of a tramway company told the public in a prospectus that the company had the right to use steam power. The right was in fact subject to the Board of Trade's consent, whi
Harvey v. Facey
Three telegrams passed between the buyers and the owner of a property called Bumper Hall Pen in Jamaica. The Privy Council decided whether the owner's reply quoting a price was an
Hedley Byrne & Co Ltd v. Heller & Partners Ltd
An advertising agency lost over £17,000 after relying on a bank's reference about a client company. The House of Lords held that a careless statement can, in a special relationship
Mogul Steamship Co. Ltd. v. McGregor, Gow & Co.
A group of shipowners agreed to cut freight rates, offer a rebate to loyal shippers and send extra ships to Hankow. Their aim was to keep the China tea-carrying trade for themselve
Wilkinson v. Downton
As a practical joke, the defendant told a married woman that her husband had broken both legs in an accident. She believed him and fell seriously ill from the shock. Wright J. held
Ratcliffe v. Evans
A newspaper falsely said that the firm of Ratcliffe & Sons no longer existed. The owner proved a general loss of business but named no lost customer. The Court of Appeal held t
St Helen's Smelting Co. v. Tipping
Tipping bought the Bold Hall estate in 1860. Fumes from the St. Helen's copper smelting works then damaged his trees and shrubs. The House of Lords decided whether a neighbourhood
Raffles v. Wichelhaus
A buyer and a seller agreed on cotton to arrive by a ship named Peerless from Bombay. Two ships of that name sailed from Bombay, one in October and one in December, and each side m
A.P. Pollution Control Board v. Prof. M.V. Nayudu (Retd.)
A company wanted to build a castor-oil-derivatives factory near the Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar lakes that supply drinking water to Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The Pollution Cont
Bar of Indian Lawyers v. D.K. Gandhi
A client accused his own advocate of pocketing money recovered in a cheque-bounce case and sued him before a consumer forum for deficiency in service (a shortfall in the quality of
Indian Medical Association v. V.P. Shantha
A batch of appeals asked one common question: is a doctor's or a hospital's work a service that a patient can complain about before a consumer forum? High Courts and the National C
Jinia Keotin v. Kumar Sitaram Manjhi
A man remarried while his first wife was still living, and his children from the second marriage claimed a share in the wider joint family's ancestral property. Section 16 of the H
L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India
A seven-Judge Bench heard a batch of appeals and writ (a court's formal order) petitions on the judicial review (a court's power to test the validity of a law) powers of Tribunals
Lata Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh
Lata Singh, a major, left her brother's house and married Bramha Nand Gupta, a man from a different caste, of her own free will. Her brothers had her husband's relatives falsely fr
M. Nagaraj v. Union of India
A five-judge Constitution Bench had to decide whether four constitutional amendments giving Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes reservation in promotion, with consequential senio
Shakti Vahini v. Union of India
A women's-rights organisation went to the Supreme Court under Article 32 about a specific, recurring pattern: self-styled khap panchayats punishing adults who marry outside their c
Spring Meadows Hospital v. Harjot Ahluwalia
A minor patient collapsed after a hospital nurse injected him without checking for a reaction, leaving him permanently in a vegetative state. The consumer forum awarded compensatio
Vellikannu v. R. Singaperumal
A son murdered his own father and was convicted for it. His wife then sued to inherit the murdered man's estate, arguing that her husband's disqualification meant he should be trea
Addagada Raghavamma v. Addagada Chenchamma
A widow claimed her late husband had adopted his nephew, and that the family's properties had been secretly partitioned decades earlier. Both courts below disbelieved her evidence.
Badri Prasad v. Deputy Director of Consolidation
A man and a woman lived together as husband and wife for around fifty years. A third party challenged whether they had ever validly married, and the Supreme Court had to decide whe
Bhaurao Shankar Lokhande v. State of Maharashtra
A man married a second time while his first wife was alive and was charged with bigamy (marrying again while a previous valid marriage still subsists). His defence: the second marr
Bhikaji Narain Dhakras v. State of Madhya Pradesh
A pre-Constitution law let Madhya Pradesh take over the motor transport business, shutting out private stage-carriage operators. That law became void in 1950 for clashing with a Fu
Bhim Singh v. State of Jammu & Kashmir
An MLA of Jammu & Kashmir was arrested at 3 AM while travelling to attend an Assembly session and kept in unlawful police custody for four days. Two Magistrates granted remand
Ashby v. White
A returning officer at the Aylesbury election refused to take a qualified burgess's vote. The King's Bench held that the burgess had no claim. The House of Lords reversed that judg
Bradford Corporation v. Pickles
Bradford's waterworks drew water from springs on Trooper Farm. Pickles owned higher land next to it and began a shaft and a level there. The town said he meant to injure its supply
Donoghue v. Stevenson
A decomposed snail was found in a ginger-beer bottle that a friend had bought for the appellant. The House of Lords held, by three judges to two, that the manufacturer could be sue
Gloucester Grammar School Case
More than six hundred years ago, a rival schoolmaster charged a fraction of the going rate and emptied out an established school's classroom. The old school's real financial ruin,
Hall v. Brooklands Auto Racing Club
Two racing cars collide at over 100 mph, and one of them tears through a fence into the crowd, killing two spectators. The Court of Appeal's answer — that watching a race means acc
National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi
Three-Judge Benches of the Supreme Court had given different answers on how to work out compensation for a person killed in a road accident. A two-Judge Bench referred the conflict
Nilabati Behera v. State of Orissa
A mother wrote a letter to the Supreme Court after her son died in police custody in Orissa. The Court treated the letter as a writ petition and found that the death was a custodia
Quinn v. Leathem
Trade union officers and members pressed a Lisburn butcher to dismiss non-union men. They threatened his regular customer, circulated black lists and drew away his employees. A jur
Saheli, A Women's Resources Centre v. Commissioner of Police, Delhi
A nine year old boy, Naresh, died after being beaten and thrown down by a Station House Officer and others while trying to protect his mother during an eviction dispute in Delhi. A
State of Madras v. Gannon Dunkerley & Co. (Madras) Ltd.
Madras taxed the value of materials that a building contractor used in its works contracts , treating them as a sale of goods . The Supreme Court asked what a sale of goods means i
Overseas Tankship (UK) Ltd v. Morts Dock & Engineering Co. (The Wagon Mound No. 1)
Oil spilled by the appellants' employees later caught fire and damaged the respondents' dock. The Privy Council had to decide one question. Does a wrongdoer in negligence (careless
Trimex International FZE Ltd. v. Vedanta Aluminium Ltd.
A Dubai trader and an Indian aluminium company negotiated a bauxite sale by email . The buyer later denied that any contract existed. The Supreme Court held that the email exchange
L.I.C. of India v. Consumer Education & Research Centre
The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) sold a cheap term policy, Table 58, only to people employed by the Government or reputed firms. The Supreme Court held that insurance terms car
Sushilaben Indravadan Gandhi v. New India Assurance Company Limited
A surgeon on a hospital minibus died in an accident. The hospital's insurer said he was an employee, so its policy excluded the claim. The Supreme Court asked whether his contract
N.P. Thirugnanam (D) by LRs. v. Dr. R. Jagan Mohan Rao
A buyer who agreed to buy a house in Madras sued for specific performance (a court order to carry out the contract). Two courts held that he was never ready and willing to perform
Saradamani Kandappan v. S. Rajalakshmi
A buyer agreed to buy 24 acres 95 cents in Chingleput District for Rs 3,75,000 and paid Rs 2,25,000 in instalments. She missed the last two payment dates, and the sellers cancelled
J.P. Builders v. A. Ramadas Rao
A buyer paid Rs 75 lakh of a Rs 5,55,48,000 price for 30 acres whose title deeds were with a bank. The sellers said he was not ready and willing and that the agreement was a contin
Food Corporation of India v. Indian Council of Arbitration
The Food Corporation of India had contracts with rice millers that sent disputes to arbitration under the rules of the Indian Council of Arbitration. The Council refused to act wit
K.S. Vidyanadam v. Vairavan
A buyer agreed in December 1978 to buy a house in Madurai for Rs 60,000 within six months. He did nothing for about two and a half years, and then sued when prices had risen. The S
Adcon Electronics Pvt. Ltd. v. Daulat
Buyers in Bombay sued for specific performance (a court order to carry out the contract ) of an agreement to sell a house in Indore. The Supreme Court held that a suit for specific
Anathula Sudhakar v. P. Buchi Reddy
Two buyers of vacant plots in Warangal sued for a permanent injunction (a court order to stop someone from doing something) against a rival buyer from the same family. The High Cou
Percept D'Mark (India) Pvt. Ltd. v. Zaheer Khan
A sports-management company asked a court to stop cricketer Zaheer Khan from signing with another agent. It relied on a right of first refusal in its contract , which had already e
K. Narendra v. Riviera Apartments (P) Ltd.
A leaseholder agreed in 1972 to let a builder develop a Delhi plot into a multi-storeyed complex. For about sixteen years the land could not be transferred under the urban land cei
State of Rajasthan v. Ferro Concrete Construction Pvt. Ltd.
A contractor laying a water pipeline in Ajmer got an arbitral award against the State of Rajasthan. The Supreme Court set aside two awards. One ignored the written terms on the mob
M/s. Padia Timber Co. P. Ltd. v. Board of Trustees of Visakhapatnam Port Trust
A timber supplier offered to supply railway sleepers, with inspection at its own depot. The Port Trust accepted but added that final inspection would be at its own stores. The supp
Dr. K.R. Lakshmanan v. State of Tamil Nadu
The Madras Race Club ran horse races and took bets inside its race course. Tamil Nadu laws treated betting on horse races as gaming and later took over the club. The Supreme Court
Church of God (Full Gospel) in India v. K.K.R. Majestic Colony Welfare Association
Residents of a colony in Chennai complained that a Pentecostal church used loudspeakers, drums and other instruments in its prayer hall. The Supreme Court asked whether a religious
Municipal Council, Ratlam v. Vardhichand
Residents of a ward in Ratlam asked a Magistrate under Section 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to order the Municipality to clean up open drains, open latrines and factory ef
Hadley v. Baxendale
Millers in Gloucester sent a broken crank shaft by carrier to Greenwich to be copied. The carrier delayed delivery, and the mill stayed idle for extra days. The jury awarded 25l. b
Kailash Nath Associates v. Delhi Development Authority
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) forfeited Rs 78 lakh of earnest money (a deposit given to bind a contract) after a bidder did not pay the balance price. DDA then re-sold the
Gujarat Bottling Co. Ltd. v. Coca Cola Co.
Coca Cola licensed a Gujarat bottler to make its drinks. The agreement stopped the bottler from dealing in any other brand while the agreement lasted. Pepsi then bought control of
Madhub Chander v. Raj Coomar Doss
Two rival shopkeepers in the same Calcutta locality struck a deal: one would shut his shop and never reopen it there, in exchange for a payment from the other. It was a narrow, loc
Bijoe Emmanuel v. State of Kerala
Three schoolchildren of the Jehovah's Witnesses faith stood respectfully in silence during the National Anthem but did not sing it, because their religion forbade it. The school ex
Brij Narain v. Mangla Prasad
A father who managed a joint family mortgaged ancestral property in 1908 to repay two earlier mortgages. His minor sons said the mortgage did not bind their shares. The Privy Counc
Commissioner of Wealth Tax, Kanpur v. Chander Sen
A father died without a will, leaving one son and his grandsons. The tax authorities treated the son's inheritance as joint family property taxable in the family's hands. The Supre
Dastane v. Dastane
A husband sought judicial separation (a court order allowing spouses to live apart without ending the marriage) from his wife on the ground of cruelty . The Supreme Court found the
E.P. Royappa v. State of Tamil Nadu
A senior IAS officer, removed from the post of Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, asked the Supreme Court to undo his transfers. The Court dismissed his petition. Justice Bhagwati's se
Fateh Chand v. Balkishan Dass
A buyer paid Rs 25,000 on a Delhi house and then failed to complete the sale. The contract said the whole sum would be forfeited. The Supreme Court held that Section 74 of the Indi
Francis Coralie Mullin v. Union Territory of Delhi
A British woman held under the COFEPOSA Act could meet her lawyer and her five-year-old daughter only under tight rules. She challenged those rules under Article 32. Justice Bhagwa
Gurupad Khandappa Magdum v. Hirabai Khandappa Magdum
A widow sued for her share in her husband's joint family property after his death in 1960. The Supreme Court held that her share is worked out in two steps: what she would have got
H. Venkatachala Iyengar v. B.N. Thimmajamma
A man claimed to be the sole executor (the person named to carry out the wishes of a dead person) of his adoptive sister's will (a document disposing of property after death). His
Joginder Kumar v. State of U.P.
A young advocate was kept by the police for five days after he went to answer questions. He was not produced before a Magistrate, and his family could not trace him. The Supreme Co
Kasturi Lal Ralia Ram Jain v. State of Uttar Pradesh
Police seized a bullion dealer's gold. The head constable keeping it stole it and fled to Pakistan. The Supreme Court found the police grossly negligent, yet held that the State wa
Kedar Nath Singh v. State of Bihar
Four appeals asked whether the sedition (inciting disaffection against the Government) offence in Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 505 survive the free-speec
Krishna Ram Mahale v. Shobha Venkat Rao
The owner of a Bombay restaurant took back its possession from the woman who ran it under his licence. He did this secretly, without a court order. The Supreme Court held that a pe
Minerva Mills Ltd. v. Union of India
Parliament tried to give itself the power to amend the Constitution without any limit at all, and to make Directive Principles trump every Fundamental Right whenever it chose to sa
K.V. Subba Rao v. State of Andhra Pradesh
A lawyer who led a civil liberties movement in Andhra Pradesh was detained on 10 November 1965 under the Defence of India Rules, 1962. He asked for release by habeas corpus (a cour
Hussainara Khatoon v. Home Secretary, State of Bihar
A habeas corpus (a court order to produce a detained person) petition reached the Supreme Court. It showed that many undertrial prisoners (persons in jail awaiting trial) in Bihar
Durga Prasad v. Baldeo
A man said he set up a market at the Collector's request and that shopkeepers later signed a written promise to pay him a commission. The High Court at Allahabad held that his expe
Sitabai v. Ramchandra
A widow adopted a son in 1958. The surviving brother of her husband died soon after, and his illegitimate son took the family properties. The Supreme Court held that the properties
Sturges v. Bridgman
A confectioner had pounded sugar and meat in mortars in his kitchen for over twenty years. A physician then built a consulting-room against the kitchen wall, and the noise became a
Lallu Yeshwant Singh v. Rao Jagdish Singh
Landlords in the Gwalior area said their tenants had lost their rights by not paying land revenue. They removed the tenants from the land without going to court. The Supreme Court
Lucknow Development Authority v. M.K. Gupta
A development authority built flats and allotted them to the public. When it delayed delivery, it argued that its statutory housing work was not a service under the Consumer Protec
M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Oleum Gas Leak Case)
Oleum gas escaped from a Shriram unit while a writ petition against its units was pending. A five-judge Bench was asked how liable a hazardous enterprise is. The Court held that su
M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Ganga Pollution Case)
The Supreme Court had already dealt with the Kanpur tanneries on 22 September 1987. In this judgment it turned to the city itself, where untreated sewage from Kanpur was pouring in
Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Subhagwanti
The Clock Tower in Chandni Chowk, Delhi, collapsed and killed three persons. The Municipal Corporation said the defect was hidden and the fall was an accident. The Supreme Court he
Ram Krishna Dalmia v. Justice S.R. Tendolkar
In 1956 the Central Government set up a Commission of Inquiry into companies promoted or controlled by Ram Krishna Dalmia and his associates. They said they were singled out for ho
Rev. Stainislaus v. State of Madhya Pradesh
Rev. Stainislaus was prosecuted under the Madhya Pradesh law against conversion by force, allurement or fraud. He argued that the right to "propagate" religion includes a right to
Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras
Madras banned a weekly journal printed in Bombay from entering the State. The ban rested on a law that allowed restrictions for public safety and public order (the state of tranqui
Rudul Sah v. State of Bihar
A court acquitted Rudul Sah in 1968. The jail kept him until 16 October 1982, more than 14 years later. The Supreme Court heard his habeas corpus (a court order to produce a detain
Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra v. State of U.P.
Lime stone quarries in the Dehradun and Mussoorie hill area were challenged before the Supreme Court as harmful to the environment (the surroundings in which people and living thin
Saroj Rani v. Sudarshan Kumar Chadha
A husband got a consent decree (a decree passed because the other side agrees) for restitution of conjugal rights (a court order to resume married life) and then sued for divorce b
Satyabrata Ghose v. Mugneeram Bangur & Co.
A land-development company sold plots on a promise to build roads and drains first. The government then requisitioned the land for war use. The company said the contract was frustr
State Bank of India v. Ghamandi Ram
A joint Hindu family (a family held together by status, with a common male ancestor and his descendants) ran a firm at Bhawalpur, now in Pakistan. After the division of India the f
State of Rajasthan v. Vidhyawati
A Government jeep was being driven back from a repair shop in Udaipur in February 1952. The driver knocked down a pedestrian, who died three days later. The Supreme Court held that
State of West Bengal v. B.K. Mondal & Sons
A contractor built government storage sheds and offices at the request of officers who had no power to bind the Government. No contract was signed in the form the law required. The
Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar
Subhash Kumar asked the Supreme Court to stop slurry from coal washeries reaching the Bokaro river. The Court stated that the right to life includes clean water and air. It then di
Sujata Sharma v. Manu Gupta
The eldest coparcener (a member who owns a share by birth) of a joint Hindu family has the right to be its Karta (the manager of the joint family). Sujata Sharma was the eldest cop
Superintendence Company of India (P) Ltd. v. Krishan Murgai
A branch manager's appointment letter barred him from competing for two years after he left the company. The company dismissed him and then tried to enforce that clause. Two judges
Sureshta Devi v. Om Prakash
A wife and husband filed a joint petition for divorce by mutual consent under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The wife then told the court her consent had been obtain
Surjit Lal Chhabda v. Commissioner of Income Tax
A man with a wife and an unmarried daughter, but no son, declared his rented lodge to be joint family property. The Supreme Court held that the three of them formed a Hindu undivid
T. Sareetha v. T. Venkata Subbaiah
A film actress, married at about sixteen and living apart from her husband for over five years, was sued by him for restitution of conjugal rights (a court order to resume married
Tikait Monmohini Jemadai v. Basanta Kumar Singh
At the time of a marriage in 1885, the husband and his parents signed a deed. It said the husband would live for ever in his wife's family house and could never take her elsewhere.
V. Tulasamma v. Sesha Reddy
A Hindu widow got properties under a 1949 compromise in place of her maintenance. The compromise gave her only a life interest and barred any sale. After the Hindu Succession Act,
Yamunabai Anantrao Adhav v. Anantrao Shivram Adhav
A Hindu man with a living wife went through Hindu marriage rites with a second woman in June 1974. She left after a week and claimed maintenance as his "wife" under Section 125 of
Free Legal Aid Cell Shri Sugan Chand Aggarwal v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi
An association of public activists asked the Delhi High Court to act on noise pollution (unwanted or excessive sound that harms people) from fireworks and loudspeakers at festivals
Moulana Mufti Syed Md. Noorur Rehman Barkati v. State of West Bengal
Mosque authorities in West Bengal asked the Calcutta High Court to keep the noise rules away from the Azan (the Muslim call to prayer) when it is sounded through microphones. The D
Rabin Mukherjee v. State of West Bengal
Petitioners asked the Calcutta High Court to make the State enforce a rule that banned loud horns on transport vehicles. The Court held the bulb-horn rule mandatory and ordered the
SpiceJet Ltd. v. Ranju Aery
SpiceJet cancelled a Kolkata to New Delhi flight on 30 June 2015, although 128 of the 129 flights that day left. It gave no refund and no alternative flight. The National Commissio
Town Area Committee v. Prabhu Dayal
A man built sixteen shops without the notice or sanction the law required. The town area committee demolished them, and he sued for Rs. 1,000, saying the action was mala fide (in b
Yashwant Trimbak Oke v. State of Maharashtra
In a pending public interest case on noise in Mumbai, the State of Maharashtra asked the Bombay High Court to allow loudspeakers until 1.00 a.m. during Navratri 1996. The Court ref
Hochster v. De La Tour
A courier was hired in April 1852 for a three-month tour starting on 1 June 1852. On 11 May 1852 his employer wrote that he had changed his mind. The courier sued on 22 May, before
Pushpabai Purshottam Udeshi v. Ranjit Ginning & Pressing Co. (P) Ltd.
A company manager drove a car off the road into a tree and a passenger died. No one saw the driving. The Supreme Court used res ipsa loquitur (the accident speaks for itself) to fi
Kedarnath Bhattacharji v. Gorie Mahomed
The Commissioners of the Howrah Municipality raised a fund for a Town Hall and agreed with a builder on the strength of the subscriptions. When a subscriber of Rs. 100 did not pay,
Hyde v. Wrench
A seller offered his farm for £1000 and called it his last offer. The buyer first offered £950, was put off, and then tried to accept the £1000. The Rolls Court held that the buyer
Taylor v. Caldwell
The defendants agreed to let the plaintiffs use a music hall and gardens on four named days for concerts. Before the first day, the hall burned down without anyone's fault. The Cou
Harvinder Kaur v. Harmander Singh Choudhry
A wife appealed against a decree of restitution of conjugal rights (a court order to resume married life) and attacked Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 as unconstitutional
Abdul Aziz v. Masum Ali
A committee collected money to repair a mosque in Agra, and two members promised Rs. 500 each. The High Court at Allahabad held that neither promise could be enforced against the h
Tweddle v. Atkinson
Two fathers agreed in writing to pay money to the groom, William Tweddle, and gave him power to sue. Tweddle sued Atkinson for the 200l. that Guy or his executor (the person appoin
M.C. Chacko v. State Bank of Travancore, Trivandrum
A father guaranteed the overdraft of his son's bank and later gave his properties to his family by a deed. The creditor bank claimed that the deed created a charge on the son's sha
Raghunath Prasad v. Sarju Prasad
A wealthy landowner borrowed Rs. 9,999 on a mortgage (a loan secured over property) at 2 per cent per month, compounded. The debt grew more than elevenfold in eleven years, and he
Chikkam Ammiraju v. Chikkam Seshamma
A husband threatened to kill himself unless his wife and son signed a release deed in favour of his brothers. They signed, then sued to cancel the deed. The judges of the Madras Hi
Ningawwa v. Byrappa
A young, illiterate wife signed a gift deed in favour of her husband. She believed it covered only his own plots. It also covered her valuable inherited plots. The Supreme Court he
Alopi Parshad & Sons Ltd. v. Union of India
A firm of army ghee-buying agents asked for higher rates after wartime prices rose, although the rates were fixed in writing. The Supreme Court held that fixed rates cannot be igno
Maula Bux v. Union of India
The Government of India rescinded two supply contracts with Maula Bux and forfeited his deposits of Rs 10,000 and Rs 8,500. The Supreme Court held that Section 74 of the Indian Con
Shree Hanuman Cotton Mills v. Tata Air-Craft Ltd.
A buyer paid Rs 2,50,000 as 25 per cent of the price of aero-scrap, then refused to pay the rest or take delivery. The seller cancelled the contract and kept the money. The Supreme
Niranjan Shankar Golikari v. Century Spinning and Mfg. Co. Ltd.
A company trained a Shift Supervisor in a secret tyre cord yarn process under a five-year contract. He left within about two years for a rival at a higher salary. The Supreme Court
Bhagwandas Goverdhandas Kedia v. M/s. Girdharilal Parshottamdas and Co.
A buyer at Ahmedabad and a seller at Khamgaon made a contract by long distance telephone. The seller failed to supply cotton seed cake, and the buyer sued at Ahmedabad. The Supreme
Karsandas H. Thacker v. Saran Engineering Co. Ltd.
A buyer made a contract in July 1952 to buy 200 tons of scrap iron. The seller did not deliver. The buyer had separately promised the same iron to an export firm and had to pay tha
Murlidhar Chiranjilal v. Harishchandra Dwarkadas
A Kanpur firm broke a contract (a legally enforceable promise) to sell canvas by not delivering the railway receipt on 5 August 1947. The buyer claimed damages (money compensation)
Dalpat Kumar v. Prahlad Singh
The respondent sued to set aside a court-executed sale of a Jaipur house, pleading fraud (a deliberate deception to gain an advantage). The High Court granted a temporary injunctio
Dorab Cawasji Warden v. Coomi Sorab Warden
Two brothers each held an equal undivided half of a Bandra house. After one brother died, his widow and sons sold his half to an outsider, who moved in within days. The Supreme Cou
Entores Ltd v. Miles Far East Corporation
An English company and a Dutch company made a contract by Telex, a machine link that works almost instantly. The Court of Appeal held that the postal rule does not apply to such a
Gherulal Parakh v. Mahadeodas Maiya
Two managers of joint families formed a partnership to deal in wheat futures for differences only. The deals made a loss, and one partner paid it all and sued the other for half. T
Nathulal v. Phoolchand
Nathulal agreed in writing to sell a ginning factory and its land to Phoolchand, took part of the price and gave possession. He then cancelled the sale and sued for possession. On
Commissioner, Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras v. Sri Lakshmindra Thirtha Swamiar of Sri Shirur Mutt
The head of an Udipi monastery (a Math) was threatened with a government scheme for running it, after the Madras Endowments Board saw debt and mismanagement. A seven-judge Bench te
Naihati Jute Mills Ltd. v. Hyaliram Jagannath
A jute mill agreed to supply an import licence for 2,000 bales of Pakistan jute and could not get one. It said a change in Government of India policy had made the contract impossib
Kanhiyalal Omar v. R.K. Trivedi
A citizen challenged the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. He said the Election Commission had no power to issue it. The Supreme Court held that Article 324
State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan
The Madras Government filled seats in its medical and engineering colleges by fixed community quotas. A Brahmin applicant who had good marks was shut out. The State defended the qu
State of West Bengal v. Anwar Ali Sarkar
West Bengal let its government send any case to a Special Court with a faster and harsher procedure. The Act gave no rule on which cases to pick. Seven judges of the Supreme Court
© 2026 NyayaSaral