Legal Maxims

By Vijay Kumar

Ubi jus ibi remedium. Where there is a right, there is a remedy. Where the remedy is barred, the right is rendered unenforceable.

“Where public bodies, under colour of public laws, recover people’s moneys, later discovered to be erroneous levies, the dharma of the situation admits of no equivocation. There is no law of limitation, especially for public bodies, on the virtue of returning what was wrongfully recovered to whom it belongs. Nor is it palatable to our jurisprudence to turn down the prayer for high prerogative writs, on the negative plea of alternative remedy, since the root principle of law married to justice is ubi jus ibi remedium.” - Shiv Sankar Dal Mills v. State of Haryana, A.I.R. 1980 S.C. 1037, Supreme Court