Becoming an “Advocate on Record” of the Supreme Court of India is one of the far fetched dreams for legal practitioners in India. However, with hard work and dedication, some advocates achieve this milestone every year. While the preparation for Advocate on record Examination takes a lot of effort preparing practice and procedure, drafting, advocacy and Professional Ethics, there is Paper IV on leading cases. These are landmark judgments which shape the legal standing on different points of law. Here is a compilation of Top 35 Leading Cases in AOR Exam as shared on the Supreme Court Website. The Bench, Citation and the landmark aspect of the case law have been reflected hereunder.
Leading Cases in AOR Exam Paper 4
Bench: Largest 13 Judge Bench – Chief Justice S.M. Sikri, Justice J.M. Shelat, Justice K.S. Hegde, Justice A.N. Grover, Justice A.N. Ray, Justice P. J. Reddy, Justice D.G. Palekar, Justice H.R. Khanna, Justice K.K. Mathew, Justice M.H. Beg, Justice S.N. Dwivedi, Justice A.K. Mukherjea and Justice Y. V. Chandrachud.
Neutral Citation: [1973] Supp. SCR 1
Important: Basic Structure Doctrine
Bench: Chief Justice MH Beg, Justice YV Chandrachud, Justice PN Bhagwati, Justice VR Krishna Iyer, Justice NL Untwalia, Justice S Murtaza Fazal Ali and Justice PS Kailasam.
Neutral Citation: [1978] 2 SCR 621
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice YV Chandrachud, Justice PN Bhagwati, justice AC Gupta, Justice NL Untwalia and Justice PS Kailasam.
Neutral Citation: [1981] 1 SCR 206
Importance:
Bench: Justice S Murtaza Fazal Ali, Justice A Varadarajan and Justice Sabyasachi Mukharji.
Neutral Citation: [1985] 1 SCR 88
Importance:
Bench: Justice Sabyasachi Mukharji, Justice Ranganath Misra, Justice GL Oza, Justice BC Ray, Justice S Natarajan, Justice MN Venkatachaliah and Justice S Ranganathan.
Neutral Citation: [1988] Supp 1 SCR 1
Importance:
Bench: Justice Lalit Mohan Sharma, Justice MN Venkatachaliah, Justice JS Verma, Justice K Jayachandra Reddy and Justice SC Agrawal.
Neutral Citation: [1992] 1 SCR 686
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice MH Kania, justice MN Venkatachaliah, Justice S Ratnavel Pandian, Dr. Justice TK Thommen, Justice AM Ahmadi, Justice Kuldip Singh, Justice PB Sawant, Justice RM Sahai and Justice Jeevan Reddy.
Neutral Citation: [1992] Supp 2 SCR 454
Importance:
Bench: Justice S Ratnavel Pandian, Justice AM Ahmadi, Justice Kuldip Singh, Justice JS Verma, Justice PB Sawant, Justice K Ramaswamy, Justice SC Agrawal, Justice Yogeshwar Dayal and Justice BP Jeevan Reddy.
Neutral Citation: [1994] 2 SCR 644
Importance:
Bench: Justice Kuldip Singh, Justice BL Hansaria and Justice SB Majumdar
Neutral Citation: [1994] Supp 6 SCR 261
Importance:
Bench: Justice Kuldip Singh, Justice Faizan Uddin and Justice K Venkataswami
Neutral Citation: [1996] Supp 5 SCR 241
Importance:
Bench: Justice Kuldip Singh and Justice Dr. AS Anand.
Neutral Citation: [1996] Supp 10 SCR 284
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice AM Ahmadi, Justice JS Verma, Justice SC Agrawal, Justice BP Jeevan Reddy, Dr. Justice AS Anand, Justice BL Hansaria, Justice SC Sen, Justice KS Paripoornan and Justice BN Kirpal.
Neutral Citation: [1996] Supp 10 SCR 585
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice JS Verma, Justice Sujata V Manohar and Justice BN Kirpal.
Neutral Citation: [1997] Supp 3 SCR 404
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice Dr. AS Anand, Justice M Srinivasan and Justice Umesh C Banerjee
Neutral Citation: [1999] 1 SCR 669
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice SP Bharucha, Justice Syed Shah Mohammed Quadri, Justice Umesh C Banerjee, Justice SN Variava and Justice Shivaraj V Patil.
Neutral Citation: [2002] 2 SCR 1006
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice SP Bharucha, Justice Syed Shah Mohammed Quadri, Justice RC Lahoti, Justice N Santosh Hegde, Justice Doraiswamy Raju, Justice Ruma Pal and Justice Arijit Pasayat.
Neutral Citation: [2002] 3 SCR 100
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice SP Bharucha, Justice Syed Shah Mohammed Quadri, Justice RC Lahoti, Justice N Santosh Hegde, Justice Doraiswamy Raju, Justice Ruma Pal and Justice Arijit Pasayat.
Neutral Citation: [2002] 3 SCR 60
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice BN Kirpal, Justice GB pattnaik, Justice VN Khare, Justice S Rajendra Babu, Justice Syed Mohammed Quadri, Justice Ruma Pal, Justice SN Variava, Justice KG Balakrishnan, Justice P Venkatarama, Reddi, Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice Arijit Pasayat.
Neutral Citation: [2002] Supp 3 SCR 587
Importance:
Bench: Justice Ruma Pal and Justice Arun Kumar
Neutral Citation: 2005 INSC 358
Importance:
Bench: Justice Ruma Pal, Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice CK Thakker.
Neutral Citation: [2005] Supp 1 SCR 223
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice RC Lahoti, Justice BN Agrawal, Justice Arun Kumar, Justice GP Mathur, Justice AK Mathur, Justice PK Balasubramanyan and Justice CK Thakker.
Neutral Citation: [2005] Supp 4 SCR 688
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice YK Sabharwal, Justice KG Balakrishnan, Justice BN Agrawal, Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice Arijit Pasayat
Neutral Citation: [2006] 1 SCR 562
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice YK Sabharwal,Justice Ashok Bhan, Dr. Justice Arijit Pasayat, Justice BP Singh, Justice SH Kapadia, Justice CK Thakker, Justice PK Balasubramanyan, Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice DK Jain.
Neutral Citation: [2007] 1 SCR 706
Importance:
Bench: Justice HK Sema and Justice Markandey Katju
Neutral Citation: [2008] 6 SCR 262
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, Justice RV Raveendran, Justice DK Jain, Justice P Sathasivam and Justice JM Panchal
Neutral Citation: [2010] 2 SCR 979
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice KG balakrishnan, Justice RV Raveendran and Justice JM Panchal
Neutral Citation: [2010] 5 SCR 381
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice SH Kapadia, Justice DK Jain, Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
Neutral Citation: [2012] 9 SCR 311
Importance:
Bench: Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice J Chelameswar
Neutral Citation: [2013] 4 SCR 595
Importance:
Bench: Justice Aftab Alam and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai
Neutral Citation: [2013] 13 SCR 148
Importance: Held that limatinib Mesylate in Beta Crystalline form fails the twin test of “invention” and “patentability”. Test of efficacy depends upon function, utility or the.purpose of the product under consideration. Mere change of form with properties inherent to that form, would not qualify as “enhancement of efficacy” of a known substance.
Bench: Justice Chandramauli Kr. Prasad and Justice V. Gopala Gowda
Neutral Citation: [2013] 12 SCR 30
Importance: NCDRC’s 10% reduction of award rejected and compensation increased. Consumer Protection Rules, 1987 – Inflation should be considered while deciding the quantum of compensation. Straightjacket multiplier method not proper in medical negligence claims. For deciding just and fair compensation, the status, future prospects and educational qualification of the deceased must be judged. Article 136 – Supreme Court has the duty to award reasonable compensation to do complete justice.
Bench: Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, Dr. Justice BS Chauhan, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice SA Bobde.
Neutral Citation: [2013] 14 SCR 713
Importance: Not reasonableness or credibility but information regarding commission of cognizable offence a must for registration of FIR. On preliminary inquiry before registration of FIR, some cases being an exception such as matrimonial cases, corruption cases, commercial offences, etc.
Bench: Justice KS Radhakrishnan and Justice AK Sikri
Neutral Citation: [2014] 5 SCR 119
Importance: Recognition of third gender. Equality under Article 14 extends to transgenders in all spheres of state activity including employment, healthcare, education as well as equal civil and citizenship rights as enjoyed by fellow citizens.
Bench: Chief Justice R.M Lodha, Justice A.K. Patnaik, Justice Sudhanshu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya, Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla.
Neutral Citation: [2014] 11 SCR 712
Importance: Article 15(5) of Constitution of India not violative of basic structure, nor concept of secularism. Article 21A constitutionally valid, but application of Article 21A to aided minority schools ultra vires the Constitution.
Bench: Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice R.F. Nariman
Neutral Citation: [2015] 1 S.C.R. 627
Importance: Dealing with forfeiture of earnest money, the Court held that in breach of contract, liquidated damages only payable in case of actual loss suffered.
Bench: Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice R.F. Nariman
Neutral Citation: [2015] 5 SCR 963
Importance: Section 66A of Information Technology Act declared unconstitutional.
