Consistency is cornerstone of administration of justice

By Vijay Kumar

IN a judgement delivered on Friday, the Supreme Court reproduced a passage from an earlier judgement of the Court:

"Consistency is the cornerstone of the administration of justice. It is consistency which creates confidence in the system and this consistency can never be achieved without respect to the rule of finality. It is with a view to achieve consistency in judicial pronouncements, the Courts have evolved the rule of precedents, principle of stare decisis etc. These rules and principle are based on public policy..."

Interestingly, in this judgement, the Supreme Court also held that when a main order is not challenged and only the review order is challenged, the Court is obliged not to entertain such special leave petition.