LANDMARK CASE

K.C. Gajapati Narayan Deo v. State of Orissa

AIR 1953 SC 375 · Supreme Court of India · Constitutional law

At a glance

Citation: AIR 1953 SC 375
Court: Supreme Court of India
Area of law: Constitutional law
In one line: No. The doctrine of colourable legislation was explained, but the law was within competence.

1 Facts

An agricultural income tax law was said to be a disguised land reform law.

2 Issue

Was the law colourable legislation?

3 What the court decided

No. The doctrine of colourable legislation was explained, but the law was within competence.

4 Why it matters

Leading case on colourable legislation.

5 Think about it

Does motive matter in colourable legislation?

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
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

All 366 landmark cases · Today's Case of the Day · Weekly quiz

← K. Srinivas Rao v. D.A. Deepa K.M. Nanavati v. State of Maharashtra →

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