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Constitution of India

Article 20, Constitution

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B.N.S.S.

30 B.N.S.S. Concepts in Brief: Quick Notes

These quick notes cover 30 core concepts of the B.N.S.S., taken one at a time: the role of the three new criminal codes, classification of offences, F.I.R. and complaint, investigation, arrest and the rights of the arrested person, confessions, search and forensic safeguards, bail (regular, anticip…

25 min read

Constitutional Law II Case compilation

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

B.N.S.S. Complete notes

B.N.S.S.

The objectives of criminal procedure are crucial for the effective functioning of the criminal justice system.

201 min read

B.N.S.S. Case compilation

B.N.S.S. Case Law

Introduction : This case addresses whether requiring an accused person to undergo medical tests, such as providing blood and semen samples, violates the constitutional protection against self-incrimination under Article…

255 min read

B.S.A.

B.S.A. (Law of Evidence): 2-Hour Study Guide

These notes cover the law of evidence under the B.S.A., 2023, following the LL.B. Semester III course outline (July–December 2026, NLU Odisha). The material is arranged in six modules and 47 numbered concepts, followed by a last-minute revision section.

161 min read

Constitutional Law II Complete notes

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

Constitutional Law II Complete notes

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

Case laws

Habeas Corpus case (ADM Jabalpur)

Supreme Court of India · 1976

During the 1975 Emergency, a five-judge bench held by a 4:1 majority that once the enforcement of Article 21 was suspended by a Presidential order under Article 359(1), no person had locus standi to file a habeas corpus petition under Article 226, even against an illegal detention. Justice H. R. Khanna's lone dissent, which said that the right to life and liberty does not come from the Constitution alone, is celebrated as the moral high point of the judiciary. The judgment was later answered by the Forty-fourth Amendment (1978) and expressly overruled in K. S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017).

Constitutional Law II

Anantha Kumar Naik

1977

The Andhra Pradesh High Court held that taking blood and semen samples from an accused for medical examination is not 'testimonial compulsion' and so does not violate Article 20(3) of the Constitution. The case matters because it draws the line between physical evidence from the body, which can be taken, and testimonial evidence from the mind, which cannot be forced out of an accused.

Constitutional Law II

Selvi

Supreme Court of India · 2010

In Selvi v. State of Karnataka (2010), the Supreme Court held that forcing an accused to undergo narco-analysis, polygraph or brain mapping (BEAP) tests is unconstitutional. Such compulsion violates the right against self-incrimination under Article 20(3) and the rights to personal liberty, privacy and dignity under Article 21. The case strikes a balance between effective criminal investigation and human rights, and it later became one foundation of the right to privacy recognised in Puttaswamy (2017).

Constitutional Law II

Practice MCQs

5 practice questions test this article.

  1. 1 In Nandini Satpathy v. P. L. Dani, which of the following principles did the Supreme Court lay down regarding Article 20(3) of the Constitution?
  2. 2 In State of Bombay v. Kathi Kalu Oghad (1961), why did the Supreme Court hold that taking specimen handwriting or finger impressions from an accused does not violate Article 20(3)?
  3. 3 In Veera Ibrahim v. State of Maharashtra (1976), customs officers recorded Veera Ibrahim's statement under Section 108 of the Customs Act. Why did the Supreme Court hold that Article 20(3) of the Constitution did not app...
  4. 4 When A commits an offence, the maximum punishment for it is imprisonment for 2 years. Before A's trial ends, the law is amended and the maximum is raised to 5 years. Under Article 20(1) of the Constitution, as explained...
  5. 5 After the Forty-fourth Constitutional Amendment of 1978, which change was made regarding the suspension of fundamental rights during an Emergency?
Practise Constitutional Law I MCQs

Official text

We show statutory text only after checking it word for word against the official source. Read Article 20 of the Constitution of India on India Code.

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