Landmark Judgments

397 Supreme Court judgments from 1950 to 2026, chosen from the cases our judiciary, CLAT and AIBE questions cite most. Each digest gives the facts, the questions before the Court, what it held and passages in the Court's own words, with a link to the official judgment.

Judgments: 397
Constitution Benches: 137
Subjects: 24

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Subject

Decided in

BenchAct interpretedMy listOverruled or explained by a later case here

35 of 397 judgments

Sanofi India Ltd. v. Central Bureau of Investigation2026Criminal Law2 judges
Criminal proceedings against a company for an offence requiring mens rea cannot be quashed under Section 482 CrPC merely because no natural person acting for it has been…
Dr. Lokesh B.H. v. State of Karnataka2026Criminal Law2 judges
Section 498A IPC applies to a live-in relationship between consenting adults that qualifies as a relationship in the nature of marriage, with an established intent to…
Just Rights for Children Alliance v. S. Harish2024Criminal Law2 judges
Storing or possessing child sexual exploitative material with the intent specified in Section 15 of the POCSO Act is an offence even without transmission; the High…
Ranjan Kumar Chadha v. State of Himachal Pradesh2023Criminal Law2 judges
Section 50 of the NDPS Act applies only to a search of the person, not of a bag he carries; as charas was found in the appellant's shoulder bag, non-compliance with…
Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India2022Criminal Law3 judges
The Court upheld the challenged PMLA provisions, including Sections 5, 19, 24, 45 and 50, read down the proviso to Section 44(1)(a), gave Section 3 a wide reading, and…
Tofan Singh v. State of Tamil Nadu2020Criminal Law3 judges
By majority, officers invested with powers under Section 53 of the NDPS Act are police officers for Section 25 of the Evidence Act, and a statement recorded under…
Joseph Shine v. Union of India2018Criminal Law5-judge bench
The Constitution Bench unanimously struck down Section 497 IPC, which made adultery an offence, as violating Articles 14, 15 and 21, held Section 198 CrPC invalid in…
Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India2018Criminal Law3 judges
Holding that the State must prevent mob violence and lynching, the Court issued preventive, remedial and punitive guidelines to the Central and State Governments and…
Nikesh Tarachand Shah v. Union of India2017Criminal Law2 judgesLater case in library
The Court declared Section 45(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, insofar as it imposed two further conditions for bail, unconstitutional as violating…
Independent Thought v. Union of India2017Criminal Law2 judges
Exception 2 to Section 375 IPC was read down so that sexual intercourse by a man with his wife who is below 18 years of age is rape; the question of marital rape of…
Vijaysinh Chandubha Jadeja v. State of Gujarat2010Criminal Law5-judge bench
Section 50(1) of the NDPS Act obliges the empowered officer to inform a suspect of the right to be searched before a gazetted officer or Magistrate; this is mandatory,…
Darshan Singh v. State of Punjab2010Criminal Law2 judges
The appellant, who fired at his uncle after the uncle struck his father on the head with a gandasa and advanced on him, acted in private defence; the High Court wrongly…
Mohammed Ibrahim v. State of Bihar2009Criminal Law2 judges
Executing a sale deed for land the executant claims as his own, though it is not his, is not making a false document under Section 464 IPC, so no forgery under Sections…
Kumar Exports v. Sharma Carpets2008Criminal Law2 judges
The presumptions under Sections 118 and 139 of the Negotiable Instruments Act are rebuttable on a preponderance of probabilities; the drawer rebutted them here, so his…
Noor Aga v. State of Punjab2008Criminal Law2 judgesLater case in library
Sections 35 and 54 of the NDPS Act, which place a reverse burden on the accused, are not unconstitutional, but the prosecution must first prove the foundational facts…
Kanhaiyalal v. Union of India2008Criminal Law2 judgesLater case in library
An officer acting under Section 67 read with Section 42 of the NDPS Act is not a police officer, so a voluntary statement made to him can be used as a confession against…
Jacob Mathew v. State of Punjab2005Criminal Law3 judges
A doctor is criminally liable under Section 304A IPC only for gross negligence judged by the Bolam test; the Court affirmed Dr. Suresh Gupta, laid down guidelines for…
State of Himachal Pradesh v. Pawan Kumar2005Criminal Law3 judges
Section 50 of the NDPS Act applies only to a search of a person's body with its clothing and footwear, not to a bag, briefcase or other container the person is carrying.
State of Punjab v. Baldev Singh1999Criminal Law5-judge bench
An officer searching a person on prior information must tell him of his right under Section 50 of the NDPS Act to be searched before a Gazetted Officer or Magistrate;…
Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab1996Criminal Law5-judge benchLater case in library
A Constitution Bench held that Article 21 does not include a 'right to die', overruled P. Rathinam, and upheld the constitutional validity of Sections 306 and 309 of the…

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How these pages are written

Every digest is written from the judgment itself, taken from the Supreme Court's own website (sci.gov.in), and links to that file.
Quoted passages are copied from the official text and were checked against it word for word; each gives the page of the PDF.
Where the bench split, the holdings given are the majority's. Where a later judgment in this library overrules or explains a case, that case's page says so, quoting the later Court's words.
A digest is a study aid. Read the judgment before citing it.

Test yourself

170 practice questions on landmark judgments, with explanations.

All 397 judgments, A to Z