LANDMARK CASE
Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation
(1985) 3 SCC 545 · Supreme Court of India · Constitutional law
At a glance
- Citation: (1985) 3 SCC 545
- Court: Supreme Court of India
- Area of law: Constitutional law
- In one line: Yes, the right to livelihood is part of Article 21, but eviction is possible by a fair procedure. Notice and hearing were required.
1 Facts
Pavement dwellers in Bombay challenged their eviction without notice.
2 Issue
Does the right to life include the right to livelihood?
3 What the court decided
Yes, the right to livelihood is part of Article 21, but eviction is possible by a fair procedure. Notice and hearing were required.
4 Why it matters
It linked livelihood with life and shaped later cases on housing and street vendors.
5 Think about it
The petitioners lost the right to stay but won on procedure. Was that a victory?
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
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