LANDMARK CASE

Centre for Public Interest Litigation v. Union of India

(2012) 3 SCC 1 · Supreme Court of India · Administrative law

At a glance

Citation: (2012) 3 SCC 1
Court: Supreme Court of India
Area of law: Administrative law
In one line: 122 licences were quashed. Natural resources must be allotted fairly and transparently, with auction preferred.

1 Facts

The 2G spectrum licences were allotted on a first come first served basis, allegedly arbitrarily.

2 Issue

Was the allocation lawful?

3 What the court decided

122 licences were quashed. Natural resources must be allotted fairly and transparently, with auction preferred.

4 Why it matters

It reshaped allocation of natural resources.

5 Think about it

How did the Presidential Reference later refine this?

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 Administrative law

Associated Provincial Picture Houses v. Wednesbury Corporation [1948] 1 KB 223
Manohar Lal Sharma v. Principal Secretary (Coal Blocks) (2014) 9 SCC 516
Natural Resources Allocation, In re (Special Reference No. 1 of 2012) (2012) 10 SCC 1
Ram Jethmalani v. Union of India (2011) 8 SCC 1
Ramana Dayaram Shetty v. International Airport Authority of India (1979) 3 SCC 489
State of Tamil Nadu v. K. Balu (2017) 2 SCC 281

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