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Landmark judgments, summarised

105 cases every law student meets, sorted by subject and topic. Type a case name and see what it was about, what the court held and why it still matters.

Search by case name, year or idea, like "Kesavananda", "privacy" or "strict liability"

Topic105 of 105 cases

Short summaries for revision. Read the full judgment before you cite it in a moot, an exam answer or court.

Landmark judgments, summarised

Gloucester Grammar School case (1410)

Ashby v White (1703)

Hadley v Baxendale (1854)

Royal British Bank v Turquand (1856)

Rylands v Fletcher (1868)

Nichols v Marsland (1876)

Chinnaya v Ramayya (1882)

R v Dudley and Stephens (1884)

Harvey v Facey (1893)

Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co (1893)

Salomon v A Salomon & Co Ltd (1897)

Mohori Bibee v Dharmodas Ghose (1903)

Lalman Shukla v Gauri Dutt (1913)

Balfour v Balfour (1919)

Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)

Pulukuri Kottaya v Emperor (1947)

Associated Provincial Picture Houses v Wednesbury Corporation (1948)

AK Gopalan v State of Madras (1950)

Romesh Thappar v State of Madras (1950)

State of Madras v Champakam Dorairajan (1951)

Shankari Prasad v Union of India (1951)

State of West Bengal v Anwar Ali Sarkar (1952)

Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists (1953)

Satyabrata Ghose v Mugneeram Bangur (1954)

Virsa Singh v State of Punjab (1958)

KM Nanavati v State of Maharashtra (1961)

Kharak Singh v State of UP (1962)

State of Rajasthan v Vidyawati (1962)

Ridge v Baldwin (1963)

State of Maharashtra v Mayer Hans George (1964)

Kasturilal Ralia Ram Jain v State of UP (1965)

Bhagwandas Goverdhandas Kedia v Girdharilal Parshottamdas (1966)

IC Golaknath v State of Punjab (1967)

AK Kraipak v Union of India (1969)

Kesavananda Bharati v State of Kerala (1973)

EP Royappa v State of Tamil Nadu (1974)

Indira Nehru Gandhi v Raj Narain (1975)

ADM Jabalpur v Shivkant Shukla (1976)

Maneka Gandhi v Union of India (1978)

Nandini Satpathy v PL Dani (1978)

Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board v A Rajappa (1978)

Hussainara Khatoon v Home Secretary, State of Bihar (1979)

Tukaram v State of Maharashtra (Mathura case) (1979)

Minerva Mills v Union of India (1980)

Bachan Singh v State of Punjab (1980)

Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia v State of Punjab (1980)

Waman Rao v Union of India (1981)

SP Gupta v Union of India (1981)

Randhir Singh v Union of India (1982)

Machhi Singh v State of Punjab (1983)

Rudul Sah v State of Bihar (1983)

Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v State of Maharashtra (1984)

Lakshmi Kant Pandey v Union of India (1984)

Olga Tellis v Bombay Municipal Corporation (1985)

Mohd Ahmed Khan v Shah Bano Begum (1985)

Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service (GCHQ case) (1985)

Bijoe Emmanuel v State of Kerala (1986)

MC Mehta v Union of India (Oleum Gas Leak) (1987)

MC Mehta v Union of India (Ganga Pollution, Kanpur Tanneries) (1987)

Paramanand Katara v Union of India (1989)

Subhash Kumar v State of Bihar (1991)

Kihoto Hollohan v Zachillhu (1992)

Indra Sawhney v Union of India (1992)

Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v Union of India (1993)

Unni Krishnan JP v State of Andhra Pradesh (1993)

SR Bommai v Union of India (1994)

Indian Medical Association v VP Shantha (1995)

Sarla Mudgal v Union of India (1995)

Gian Kaur v State of Punjab (1996)

State of Punjab v Gurmit Singh (1996)

Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v Union of India (1996)

Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v Union of India (1996)

TN Godavarman Thirumulpad v Union of India (1996)

Vishaka v State of Rajasthan (1997)

DK Basu v State of West Bengal (1997)

Githa Hariharan v Reserve Bank of India (1999)

Danial Latifi v Union of India (2001)

Sushil Kumar Sharma v Union of India (2005)

Jacob Mathew v State of Punjab (2005)