The new fourth edition of this scholarly work is more exhaustive and comprehensive in its coverage, with the latest case law. It studies the role of 'precedent' in the Indian legal system, and how its various components mutually interact.

Topics covered include: Stare Decisis, Ratio Decidendi, Supreme Court and Overruling of Precedent, Judicial Law-Making, Law Declared by the Supreme Court under Article 141, Judicial Process and the Right to Life, Indian courts’ approach to Death Sentence, etc.

Contents: 1. Judicial process: a prologue. 2. Precedent : a prognosis. 3. “Stare decisis” in the Indian courts: institutional aspects. 4. “Stare decisis”: a sociological perspective. 5. “Ratio decidendi” and the structure of judgments. 6. Supreme court and overruling of precedent. 7. Judicial law-making and prospective overruling. 8. Basic structure doctrine: judicial dynamics. 9. Law declared by the supreme court under article 141. 10. Judicial process and the right to life. 11. Death sentence: judicial ambivalence. 12. Judicial process and personal liberty. 13. Epilogue: future of the past.