Judgments, explained.
The cases that shaped the law — and the ones deciding it now.

Puttaswamy: Privacy Is a Fundamental Right

Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India

Nine judges held unanimously that privacy is a fundamental right intrinsic to life and liberty — overruling six decades of contrary authority and laying the foundation for India's data protection law.

Vishaka: The Rules That Became the POSH Act

Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan

With no law on the books, the Supreme Court wrote one: a definition of sexual harassment at work and a binding complaints mechanism that governed every Indian workplace for sixteen years.

D.K. Basu: What Police Must Do When Arresting

D. K. Basu v. State of West Bengal

Eleven binding requirements the police must follow every single time they arrest or detain someone — the arrest memo, the right to have someone informed, the medical examination. This is the checklist your rights are made of.

Maneka Gandhi: How Article 21 Grew Teeth

Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India

A law that takes away your liberty is no longer enough on its own — the procedure it lays down must itself be fair, just and reasonable. This is the case that turned Article 21 from a formality into a real protection.

U.P. Gangsters Act: No Offence, So No Prosecution

Shiv Pratap Singh alias Chinu v. State of U.P. & Ors.

Two advocates challenged cases registered against them under the U.P. Gangsters Act. On 20 August 2026 the Supreme Court found that the Act never creates an offence at all — called it “stillborn”, and quashed the proceedings.

Registering a Will Is Not the Same as Proving It

Pazhanathal (Dead) Through LRs v. Alamathal (Dead) Through LRs

A widow's registered Will gave her husband's farmland to one branch of the family. Forty years on, the Supreme Court held the Will was never proved — so the land passed by intestate succession instead.

Late Jail Appeal: Supreme Court Acquits After 22 Years

Arjun Jani @ Tuntun v. State of Orissa

A man convicted of murder spent 22 years in prison because his appeal was filed late and no court would look at it. The Supreme Court held that delay must not shut a convict out, examined the evidence itself, and acquitted him.

Supreme Court: A 25-Year Fight for Back Wages

A CRPF officer was removed from service in 1995 and spent a quarter of a century in court. The Supreme Court held that once a wrongful penalty is cut down it relates back to the original date — and ordered his promotion made real, his back wages and pension paid, and ₹10 lakh in costs for the ordeal.