The A.K. Gopalan case of 1950 is a landmark judgment in Indian constitutional law. In this case, the Supreme Court of India upheld the validity of the Preventive Detention Act of 1950, stating that the “procedure established by law” as mentioned in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution refers to a legally enacted law and not the principles of natural justice. The court took a narrow interpretation of personal liberty, limiting it to freedom from physical restraint. This judgment was later overruled in the Menaka Gandhi case of 1978, which expanded the interpretation of Article 21 to include a more substantive notion of personal liberty【28:0†source】【28:2†source】【28:4†source】.
Introduction The Supreme Court's recent ruling on the arrest of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha underscores the vital importance of adhering…