Article 15, Constitution

57 Constitutional Cases in Brief: Quick Notes

Issue: Can the government choose judges even when the Chief Justice disagrees?

48 min read 16 Oct 2026

57 Landmark Constitutional Cases: Complete Notes

About this topic ▶ Watch this part of the lecture (0:00) These notes cover the 57 most important cases of Indian Constitutional Law . They are the cases that keep coming up in LL.B. examinations, in judiciary examinations and in every serious discussion of constitutional law. Every case is studied…

411 min read 16 Oct 2026

Administrative Law One Shot

Administrative law is "the law relating to the administration. It determines the organization, powers, and duties of administrative authorities.

61 min read 9 Sep 2026

Constitution II One Shot

A child born in India before July 1, 1987, automatically acquired Indian citizenship regardless of their parents' nationality.

57 min read 9 Sep 2026

Constitutional Law II: Complete Notes

Constitutional Law II deals with civil liberties. It is studied in eight units, from the question of who is a citizen of India to how the Constitution enforces the rights it gives. These rights are at work in ordinary life: when a person speaks his mind online, prays in his own way, or is stopped b…

130 min read 16 Oct 2026

Family law II One Shot

Illustration: A Hindu male dies intestate, leaving behind a widow, a son, and a daughter. The property will be divided into three equal parts: one-third each for the widow, the son, and the daughter.

91 min read 9 Sep 2026

Position Relating to Treaties under the Indian Constitution

The power to make treaties or enter into binding agreements with other nations involves both international and national (or internal) considerations. When it comes to the internal aspects of treaties or agreements, any…

7 min read 9 Sep 2026

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the Ninety-third Constitutional Amendment, which inserted Article 15(5), and the Central Educational Institutions Reservation in Admission Act, 2006, including 27% O.B.C. reservation in central institutions such as I.I.T.s, I.I.M.s and central universities. It held that the creamy layer must be excluded from O.B.C. reservation, but not from S.C./S.T. (as the law stood then). It also held that excluding minority institutions does not violate Article 14. The case is a key decision on balancing reservation in higher education with merit, equality and the basic structure.

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. It read the Act so that a divorced Muslim woman's rights stay safe: the husband must make a reasonable and fair provision for her future within the iddat period, and that provision continues to benefit her after iddat until she remarries. The case matters because it saved the Act through constitutional interpretation while keeping alive the basic purpose of the Shah Bano judgment.

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, by a 4:1 majority, held that barring women aged 10 to 50 from the Sabarimala temple was unconstitutional. It struck down Rule 3(b) of the 1965 Rules and held that the right to worship under Article 25(1) belongs equally to women. The case matters because it uses constitutional morality and the essential religious practices test to resolve the clash between faith and gender equality, and its larger questions are now pending before a nine-judge bench.

A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court, by a 6:3 majority, upheld 27% reservation for O.B.C.s in central government jobs. It struck down the 10% reservation based only on economic criteria. It laid down the core rules of Indian reservation law: caste can be a class, the creamy layer must be excluded, reservation should generally not exceed 50%, sub-classification is allowed, and there is no reservation in promotion. These rules still form the backbone of reservation law.

In Joseph Shine v. Union of India (2018), a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court unanimously struck down Section 497 of the IPC, which made adultery a crime. It also struck down Section 198 of the CrPC insofar as it applied to adultery. The Court held that the law treated a wife as her husband's property and violated Articles 14, 15 and 21, so adultery is now only a civil wrong and a ground for divorce, not a crime.

The Supreme Court struck down a Mysore Government Order that reserved 68% of seats in engineering and medical colleges, calling it a fraud on Article 15(4). It held that caste cannot be the sole test of backwardness and that reservation should broadly be less than fifty percent. This was the first case to lay down the fifty percent principle later reaffirmed in Indra Sawhney.

First, let us understand the basic meaning. Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution gives every citizen the right to practise any profession or carry on any occupation, trade or business — and running an educational institution counts as exercising this right. But no right in the Constitution is absol…

In this 2014 case, the Supreme Court legally recognised transgender persons as a 'third gender'. It held that every person can decide their own gender identity (self-identification) without any medical test or surgery. It also held that this right is protected under Articles 14, 15, 16, 19 and 21. The case is a landmark because it gave transgender persons an independent legal identity for the first time and directed the Centre and the States to protect their rights.

In Shayara Bano v. Union of India (2017), a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, by a 3:2 majority, set aside instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat). Two judges held it unconstitutional as manifestly arbitrary under Article 14, and a third held it was not part of Islamic law. The case is a landmark for the dignity and equality of Muslim women.