R.C. Cooper case
Also called: Bank nationalisation case (1970) · Topic: Amendment of the Constitution and the Basic Structure · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The R.C. Cooper case (1970), also called the bank nationalisation case, was a Supreme Court judgment on the right to property. The Court struck down the bank nationalisation law because the compensation it paid was unfair. It also held that fundamental rights are not separate compartments. A law must satisfy every right it affects, not just one.
Example
In 1970, the Court also gave the privy purses judgment (Madhav Rao Scindia). Together, these two rulings pushed the government to pass the 24th, 25th and 26th Amendments in 1971. The 25th replaced the word "compensation" with "amount" in Art. 31(2), so courts could no longer test whether the payment was fair. The 26th abolished privy purses.
Don't confuse with
- Golaknath case (1967): it dealt with whether Parliament can amend fundamental rights. R.C. Cooper tested an ordinary law against fundamental rights.
Related concepts
- 1st Constitutional Amendment Act 1951
- Ninth Schedule
- Shankari Prasad case
- Sajjan Singh case
- Golaknath case
- Doctrine of prospective overruling