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UPPCS Polity Gap Sheet: Judiciary and Landmark Cases.

UPPCS has asked 19 of these. 5 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.

First, the concept

The big cases are one long argument between Parliament and the Court over amending Fundamental Rights: Shankari Prasad (yes) → Golaknath (no) → 24th Amendment → Kesavananda Bharati (yes, but not the basic structure) → Minerva Mills (limited power is itself basic).

Article 21 grew through cases: Maneka Gandhi (fair procedure), Olga Tellis (livelihood), Vishaka (workplace safety), Puttaswamy (privacy).

✅ Already asked (19)

Courts and judges

  • Supreme Court began 28 January 1950 · First Chief Justice H. J. Kania; Federal Court before it (1937)
  • Judges retire at 65 (Supreme Court) and 62 (High Court) · Removal by Parliament on 'proved misbehaviour or incapacity'
  • Collegium system · From the Second (1993) and Third (1998) Judges Cases
  • First woman Supreme Court judge: Fathima Beevi (1989) · Later Governor of Tamil Nadu
  • Common High Courts · Guwahati serves Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal; Bombay serves Goa, Dadra-Daman
  • PIL and Lok Adalat · PIL pioneered by P. N. Bhagwati and V. R. Krishna Iyer; Lok Adalats under the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987

Amending power and basic structure

  • Shankari Prasad (1951) · Parliament can amend Fundamental Rights
  • Golaknath (1967) · Parliament cannot take away Fundamental Rights
  • Kesavananda Bharati (1973) · Basic structure doctrine; 13-judge bench
  • Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975) · Free and fair elections part of the basic structure
  • Minerva Mills (1980) · Balance between Rights and Directive Principles is basic
  • I. R. Coelho (2007) · Ninth Schedule laws after 24 April 1973 can be reviewed

Rights cases

  • A. K. Gopalan (1950) · Narrow reading of Article 21; overruled by Maneka Gandhi
  • Maneka Gandhi (1978) · Procedure must be 'just, fair and reasonable'
  • Indra Sawhney (1992) · Mandal case: 50% ceiling; creamy layer
  • S. R. Bommai (1994) · Limits on President's Rule; secularism is basic
  • Unnikrishnan (1993) · Education up to 14 a right; led to Article 21A
  • Puttaswamy (2017) · Privacy a Fundamental Right; nine judges
  • Navtej Singh Johar (2018); Shayara Bano (2017) · Section 377 read down; instant triple talaq void

❌ Not asked yet (5)

Items marked 'asked in other exams' have come in UPSC or other state exams, not yet in UPPCS.

Rights cases

  • ADM Jabalpur (1976) · Habeas corpus suspended in the Emergency; overruled in Puttaswamy asked in other exams
  • Vishaka (1997) · Guidelines against sexual harassment at work asked in other exams
  • Olga Tellis (1985) · Right to livelihood within Article 21
  • Shah Bano (1985) · Maintenance to a divorced Muslim woman
  • M. C. Mehta cases · Absolute liability (1987); Ganga, Taj, CNG in Delhi

⚠️ Golaknath said Parliament cannot amend Fundamental Rights; Kesavananda said it can, except the basic structure. Maneka Gandhi overruled A. K. Gopalan. The Collegium came from the judges' cases, not from the Constitution.

'Asked' and 'not asked' are checked against every UPPCS question on this site. 'Not asked yet' does not mean it will surely come.

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