LANDMARK CASE

Air India v. Nergesh Meerza

(1981) 4 SCC 335 · Supreme Court of India · Constitutional law

At a glance

Citation: (1981) 4 SCC 335
Court: Supreme Court of India
Area of law: Constitutional law
In one line: Termination on first pregnancy was struck down as unreasonable and an insult to womanhood. Other conditions were partly upheld.

1 Facts

Air hostesses challenged rules ending their service on marriage within four years, on first pregnancy, or at 35.

2 Issue

Are these service conditions discriminatory?

3 What the court decided

Termination on first pregnancy was struck down as unreasonable and an insult to womanhood. Other conditions were partly upheld.

4 Why it matters

An early case on gender discrimination at work.

5 Think about it

Which parts of the reasoning would a court accept today?

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

A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras AIR 1950 SC 27
ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (1976) 2 SCC 521
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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