ARTICLE 141 – DOCTRINE OF PRECEDENT

Context:

Recently, Supreme Court judges have expressed the need to ‘Indianise’ the legal system.

WHAT IS DOCTRINE OF PRECEDENT?

The doctrine refers to a decision that has already been taken by a higher court is binding to the lower court and at the same time stands as a precedent to the lower court judgment, which cannot be altered by a lower court. This principle is known as Stare decisis.
The doctrine of stare decisis helps
- To generate judicial accountability along with it
- It also ensures fairness in adjudication and excludes arbitrariness
- Helps in maintaining stability and certainty.
- It is both a social as well as a legal norm.

THE DOCTRINE OF STARE DECISIS UNDER ARTICLE 141 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

Article 141 of the Indian Constitution states that
- law declared by Supreme Court to be binding on all courts within the territory of India.
- Article 141 states that only the ratio decendi of a case is binding not the obiter dicta and the mere facts of the cases.
- Therefore, while applying the decision of S.C. by other courts, what is required is to understand the true principle laid down by the previous decision.
Some basic concept of Article 141
- All the courts in India are bound by law to follow the decision of the Supreme Court.
- The judgment has to be read as a whole and at the same time, the observation from the judgment has to be determined in the light of the questions presented before the court.