Judicial precedent refers to legal principles established by higher court decisions, which must be followed by lower courts, promoting uniformity in law. It includes different types of precedents such as declaratory, persuasive, authoritative, and conditionally authoritative, each with specific binding characteristics. The Supreme Court of India is the highest authority, binding all other courts, and its decisions encompass both the ratio decidendi and obiter dicta, with a principle of stare decisis guiding their application.

1. JUDICIAL PRECEDENT

2. • Is statement of Law found in a higher judicial decision,
followed by the same court or subordinate court.
• law‖ involves and be speaks of a uniformity. The judges
surely could hat have ignored the mores, the customs, usages
and habits of the people.
• In Common Law of England, precedents –to some extent,
based on the recognized, reasonable and time honored
customs and usages of the people.

3. • Precedent speaks with authority
• Principle becomes binding for future cases and it thus
becomes a source of law.
• An established rule to abide by the former precedents where
the same points come again in litigation.
• Authoritative precedents are a legal source of Law.
• Persuasive precedents are a historical source of law (not a
binding)

4. Two meanings
1. The strict sense – should be regarded as authoritative and
should be followed except in certain circumstance.
2. The loose sense – reported judgments of the law courts
meant to be cited, and that these judgments will probably
be followed by the judges.
• Carry some legal principles.
• Legal principles—ratio decidendi (question of Law)
• The ratio decidendi is the heart of a precedent.

5. • Is purely constitutive in nature and never abrogative.
• Create a Law but cannot alter it.
• Judges are not at liberty to put their own views.
• Judges can fill in the gaps and remove imperfections of the
existing laws.

6. Four types of precedents
1)Declaratory and original precedents
• Create law are original precedents
• Declaratory of existing laws are declaratory precedents.
2)Persuasive Precedents
• judges are under no obligation to follow
• But they must take into consideration.
• In India, the decision of one High Court are only persuasive
precedents in other High Courts. 19

7. 3) Absolutely Authoritative precedents
• A precedent is said to be authoritative –the court to which cited is to
bound to follow it irrespective of the fact that the court doesn’t agree
with that decision.
• AAPs , binding character of the precedents are absolute
• In India, every court is absolutely bound by the decision of court
superior to itself.
4) Conditionally Authoritative Precedents
• Is one which though ordinarily binding on the court to which it is cited.
• Is liable to be disregarded in certain circumstances Doctrines of
Precedent in Tribunals of India
• If a Bench of the Tribunal wishes to take a view different from the one
taken by the earlier Bench,
• Propriety demands that it should place the matter before the president
of the Tribunal so that the case is referred to a larger bench

8. • The Supreme Court –1950
• Highest Court, the law declared by it is binding on all courts
of the country.—Article 141
• ―law declared‖ means not only the ratio decidendi of a
decision but it includes also obiter dictum.
• Ratio decidendi(reason of the decision) includes – a concrete
decision binding on the parties--- the concrete, practical
decision, the force of law. 24
• Obiter dicta
• Legal opinion on issues which they are not asked to decide.

9. • Ratio decidendi is the general principle of the case
• Obiter dicta is what the judge said unwantedly, just by the
way.
• OD—which does not have any binding authority 25
• Supreme Court is not bound by its own decisions
• All courts in Article 141---Other than the Supreme Court.
• Supreme Court observed that the Doctrine of Stare Decisis
is a very valuable principles of precedent
• If departed from it there are extraordinary or special reasons
to do so.
• In Constitution– does not place any restriction on our power
to review our earlier decision.

10. THANK YOU
By-DHARA SHARMA
LLM
Business Law.