1951 in India

Events in the year 1951 in the Republic of India.

Incumbents

 * President of India – Rajendra Prasad
 * Prime Minister of India – Jawaharlal Nehru
 * Chief Justice of India – H. J. Kania (until 6 Nov.), M. Patanjali Sastri (starting 6 Nov.)

Governors

 * Assam: Jairamdas Daulatram
 * Bihar: Madhav Shrihari Aney
 * Maharashtra: Raja Sir Maharaj Singh
 * Odisha:
 * until 5 May: Asaf Ali
 * 6 May-17 July: V. P. Menon
 * starting 17 July: Asaf Ali
 * Punjab: Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi
 * Rajasthan: Maharaj Man Singh II
 * Uttar Pradesh: Hormasji Pherozeshah Modi
 * West Bengal: Kailash Nath Katju (until 1 November), Harendra Coomar Mookerjee (starting 1 November)

Events

 * National income - ₹108,633 million
 * 4-11 March, First Asian Games held in Delhi.
 * 5 November – Central Railway is formed by the merger of several government-owned railways.
 * Western Railway is formed by merging smaller railways.
 * Central Statistical Organisation is Established.

Law

 * 12 March – Patna High Court struck down Bihar Land Reforms Act, ruling it as unconstitutional on the ground that it violated Article 14 of Indian Constitution.
 * 2 June – First Amendment of the Constitution of India bill passed in Parliament of India with 228 votes and 20 votes against it.


 * 18 June – First Amendment of the Constitution of India says "state can make special provisions for advancement of any backward class"
 * 5 October – Supreme Court of India in Sri Sankari Prasad Singh Deo vs Union Of India And State Of Bihar case upheld the First Amendment of the Constitution of India.

Arts and literature

 * 16 December – Salar Jung Museum is opened to the public by the Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru.

Births

 * 1 January – Nana Patekar, actor and filmmaker.
 * 1 March – Nitish Kumar, politician and Chief Minister of Bihar.
 * 18 May — Jagdeep Dhankhar, politician and 14th Vice President of India
 * 26 June – Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, politician and member of parliament from vizianagram.
 * 9 July – Nav Bhatia, businessman and superfan of the Toronto Raptors.
 * 10 July – Narayanasami Sathyamurthy, scientist.
 * 11 July – Naramalli Sivaprasad, politician and member of parliament from Chittoor. (died 2019)
 * 30 August – Surajit Sengupta, footballer. (died 2022)
 * 7 September – Mammootty, actor
 * 25 October – A. V. Vasudevan Potti, poet and lyricist.

Deaths

 * 15 February – Stephen Hector Taylor-Smith, rocket scientist (born 1891).
 * 23 October – Jagat Singh, Third Satguru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (born 1884).
 * 5 December – Abanindranath Tagore, Indian painter writer (born 1871).