LANDMARK CASE
State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan
AIR 1951 SC 226 · Supreme Court of India · Constitutional law
At a glance
- Citation: AIR 1951 SC 226
- Court: Supreme Court of India
- Area of law: Constitutional law
- In one line: No. The order violated Article 29(2), and Directive Principles could not override fundamental rights.
1 Facts
A government order in Madras reserved seats in medical and engineering colleges on the basis of caste and religion.
2 Issue
Can admissions to state colleges be reserved by caste under the original Constitution?
3 What the court decided
No. The order violated Article 29(2), and Directive Principles could not override fundamental rights.
4 Why it matters
Parliament responded with the First Amendment, adding Article 15(4).
5 Think about it
Why did this judgment lead directly to a constitutional amendment?
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
← State of Kerala v. N.M. ThomasState of Maharashtra v. Madhukar Narayan Mardikar →
A short teaching summary for students. Educational content only, not legal advice.