RAGHUNATHRAO GANPATRAO ETC. ETC. vs UNION OF INDIA

The Supreme Court addressed the constitutionality of the Constitution (Twenty-Sixth Amendment) Act, 1971, which abolished the privy purses of former rulers under Articles 291 and 362 of the Constitution. The Court held that the amendment violated the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19(1)(f), 21, and 31(1) of the Constitution, as it undermined the basic structure of the Constitution by altering the organic unity of India. The Court ruled that the covenants made by the rulers were akin to contracts and thus protected under constitutional provisions, leading to the conclusion that the amendment was unconstitutional and invalid.