LANDMARK CASE
S.R. Bommai v. Union of India
(1994) 3 SCC 1 · Supreme Court of India · Constitutional law
At a glance
- Citation: (1994) 3 SCC 1
- Court: Supreme Court of India
- Area of law: Constitutional law
- In one line: Yes. The imposition can be reviewed, the majority of a government must be tested on the floor of the House, and secularism is part of the basic structure.
1 Facts
State governments in Karnataka and others were dismissed under Article 356 (President's Rule).
2 Issue
Is the President's satisfaction under Article 356 subject to judicial review?
3 What the court decided
Yes. The imposition can be reviewed, the majority of a government must be tested on the floor of the House, and secularism is part of the basic structure.
4 Why it matters
It sharply limited misuse of Article 356 and strengthened federalism.
5 Think about it
Why is the floor test better than the Governor's opinion about majority?
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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