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Concise, authoritative briefs of the cases that shaped common-law jurisprudence — the facts, the issues, the holding, and why they still matter.
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala§Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India§Donoghue v. Stevenson§Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co.§Marbury v. Madison§ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla§Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation§Shayara Bano v. Union of India§M.C. Mehta v. Union of India§E.P. Royappa v. State of Tamil Nadu§
Essential reading
Most read- 01Case Summary: State of West Bengal v. Anwar Ali Sarkar 1952AIR 1952 SC 75The landmark case of State of West Bengal v. Anwar Ali Sarkar 1952, which set a precedent in interpreting Article 14 and established doctrine of classification
- 02Case Summary: Air India v. Nargesh Meerza 1981Discover how the landmark case Air India v. Nargesh Mirza 1981 set a precedent for gender equality in the Indian workplace, becoming a key victory for legal reforms.
- 03E.P. Royappa v. State of Tamil NaduAIR 1974 SC 555; (1974) 4 SCC 3E.P. Royappa v. State of Tamil Nadu (1973) is where the Supreme Court first held that arbitrary State action, by itself, violates the right to equality under Article 14 — the "new doctrine of arbitrariness". Ironically, Royappa lost: the Court dismissed his challenge to his transfer, but Justice Bhagwati's reasoning reshaped Indian equality law.
- 04M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Oleum Gas Leak)(1987) 1 SCC 395; AIR 1987 SC 1086M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (1987), the "Oleum Gas Leak" case, is where the Supreme Court created the rule of absolute liability. After oleum gas leaked from Shriram Food and Fertilizers' Delhi plant — just months after the Bhopal disaster — the Court held that an enterprise carrying on a hazardous activity is absolutely liable for any harm if a dangerous substance escapes, with none of the exceptions allowed under the older strict-liability rule, and that compensation must reflect the enterprise's size to deter wrongdoing.
- 05Case Summary: Shayara Bano v. Union of India 2017Learn about Shayara Bano v. Union of India, the landmark 2017 Supreme Court case that challenged the practice of triple talaq in India.
- 06Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal CorporationAIR 1986 SC 180; (1985) 3 SCC 545Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation (1985) is the case that read the "right to livelihood" into the right to life under Article 21. A five-judge bench unanimously held that you cannot deprive a person of their livelihood except by fair and reasonable procedure. Yet, in a famous paradox, the Court still upheld the Municipality's power to evict the Mumbai pavement dwellers — softening it only with directions for humane treatment.
- 07ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant ShuklaAIR 1976 SC 1207; (1976) 2 SCC 521ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (1976), the "Habeas Corpus Case", is widely seen as the Supreme Court's darkest hour: by 4-1 it held that during the Emergency even the right to life under Article 21 could not be enforced. Justice H.R. Khanna's lone dissent cost him the Chief Justiceship — and was vindicated when the case was finally overruled in Puttaswamy (2017).
- 08Case Summary: Rajesh Sharma v. State of U.P. 2017Explore the 2017 Rajesh Sharma v. State of U.P., Supreme Court guidelines on preventing misuse of Section 498A IPC, and their impact on dowry harassment laws.
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