Court caseAIR 1951 SC 226

The Madras Government's Communal G.O. of 1927, continued after independence, fixed the seats in medical and engineering colleges by community: out of every fourteen seats, six for non-Brahmin Hindus, two for backward Hindus, two for Brahmins, two for Harijans, one for Anglo-Indians and Indian Christians, and one for Muslims. Champakam Dorairajan, a Brahmin woman, alleged that she was denied a medical seat only because of her caste. The Madras High Court struck the G.O. down and the State appealed.

A seven-judge Bench unanimously dismissed the appeal. Das J held that the G.O. denied admission on grounds only of religion and caste, violating Article 29(2) (no citizen to be denied admission to State-maintained or State-aided institutions on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language). Article 46 could not save it: the Directive Principles are expressly made unenforceable by Article 37 and cannot override the fundamental rights, which are sacrosanct; the Directive Principles 'have to conform to and run as subsidiary to the Chapter of Fundamental Rights'. The Court noted that, unlike Article 16(4) for employment, there was no provision for reservation in education.