A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras

1 Facts

A communist leader detained under the Preventive Detention Act, 1950 challenged his detention as violating Articles 19 and 21.

2 Issue

Must a law depriving personal liberty also satisfy Article 19, and does Article 21 require a fair procedure?

3 What the court decided

The majority held each fundamental right operates separately, and 'procedure established by law' means procedure in an enacted law.

4 Why it matters

Its narrow reading was later rejected in R.C. Cooper and Maneka Gandhi, making it a key example of how constitutional law evolves.

5 Think about it

Why might the early Court have read Article 21 so narrowly in 1950?

6 Analyse it yourself

Read the full judgment from an official source or a law database, then brief it in seven steps: facts, issues, arguments, decision, ratio, obiter and significance. Always check the citation before you rely on it.

7 More cases on Constitutional law

• ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (1976) 2 SCC 521
• Air India v. Nergesh Meerza (1981) 4 SCC 335
• Ajay Hasia v. Khalid Mujib Sehravardi (1981) 1 SCC 722
• Anuj Garg v. Hotel Association of India (2008) 3 SCC 1
• Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020) 3 SCC 637
• Ashoka Kumar Thakur v. Union of India (2008) 6 SCC 1

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A short teaching summary for students. Educational content only, not legal advice.