50 Landmark Criminal Law Cases

⚖ PART I – 50 Landmark Criminal Law Cases

(Constitution + IPC + CrPC + Evidence + Bail + Investigation)

Lalita Kumari v. Govt. of Uttar Pradesh – Registration of FIR is mandatory in cognizable offences.
State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal – Categories for quashing FIR under 482 CrPC.
Joginder Kumar v. State of U.P. – Arrest cannot be routine; must be justified.
D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal – Arrest guidelines; custodial safeguards mandatory.
Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar – No automatic arrest in offences punishable up to 7 years.
T.T. Antony v. State of Kerala – Second FIR for same occurrence not permissible.
Vinay Tyagi v. Irshad Ali – Supplementary charge sheet permissible.
Siddharth v. State of U.P. – Arrest not mandatory before filing charge sheet.

Uday Mohanlal Acharya v. State of Maharashtra – Default bail is indefeasible right.
Rakesh Kumar Paul v. State of Assam – 60 vs 90 days computation clarified.
Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI – Comprehensive bail guidelines.
Sanjay Chandra v. CBI – Bail is rule; jail is exception.
P. Chidambaram v. Directorate of Enforcement – Gravity alone cannot deny bail.
Union of India v. K.A. Najeeb – Long incarceration justifies bail.

Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra – Five golden principles of circumstantial evidence.
Hanumant Govind Nargundkar v. State of M.P. – Circumstances must be fully established.
State of U.P. v. Krishna Gopal – Minor contradictions immaterial.
Tomaso Bruno v. State of U.P. – Adverse inference for non-production of CCTV.
Anvar P.V. v. P.K. Basheer – Section 65B certificate mandatory for electronic evidence.
Arjun Panditrao Khotkar v. Kailash Kushanrao – 65B compliance reaffirmed.

State of Bombay v. Kathi Kalu Oghad – Scope of Article 20(3).
Nandini Satpathy v. P.L. Dani – Right to silence during interrogation.
Selvi v. State of Karnataka – Narco/Polygraph without consent unconstitutional.

Laxman v. State of Maharashtra – Doctor certification not mandatory.
P.V. Radhakrishna v. State of Karnataka – Can convict solely on reliable dying declaration.

Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar – Speedy trial is fundamental right.
Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India – Fair procedure under Article 21.
Kartar Singh v. State of Punjab – Fair trial central to criminal justice.
Zahira Habibullah Sheikh v. State of Gujarat – Retrial ordered for miscarriage of justice.

Kehar Singh v. State (Delhi Admn.) – Conspiracy can be proved by circumstantial evidence.
State of Rajasthan v. Kashi Ram – Last seen theory.
Kaliyaperumal v. State of Tamil Nadu – Ingredients of dowry death.
Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia v. State of Punjab – Anticipatory bail principles.
Sushila Aggarwal v. State (NCT of Delhi) – No fixed time limit for anticipatory bail.
Nikesh Tarachand Shah v. Union of India – Twin bail conditions under PMLA struck down (later amended).

(10 more quick exam staples)

Shreya Singhal v. Union of India – Section 66A IT Act struck down.
Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India – Section 377 partially struck down.
Joseph Shine v. Union of India – Adultery decriminalized.
Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan – Workplace harassment guidelines.
Prakash Singh v. Union of India – Police reforms directives.
People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India – Telephone tapping safeguards.
Dharam Pal v. State of Haryana – Sessions court can summon additional accused.
Hardeep Singh v. State of Punjab – Section 319 CrPC power explained.
Manu Sharma v. State (NCT of Delhi) – Fair trial vs media trial.
Subramanian Swamy v. Union of India – Criminal defamation upheld.