Ratio Decidendi - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition ratio-decidendi

Definition :

Ratio decidendi, is the rule deducible from the application of law of the facts and circumstances of a case which constitutes its ratio decidendi and not some conclusion based upon facts which may appear to be similar. One additional or different fact can make a world of difference between conclusions in two cases even when the same principles are applied in each case to similar facts, Regional Manager v. Pawan Kumar Dubey, AIR 1976 SC 1766: (1976) 3 SCC 334; Jahangir Khan v. State of Bihar, (1998) 1 Pat LJR 912 (Pat).

Ratio decidendi, the ground of a judicial decision. The general reasons or principles of a judicial decision, as abstracted from any peculiarities of the case, are commonly styled, by writers on jurisprudence, the ratio decidendi, Austin's Jurisprudence, p. 648.

Every decision contains three basic ingredients: (i) findings of material facts, direct and inferential. An inferential finding of facts is the inference which the Judge draws from the direct, or perceptible facts; (ii) statements of the principles of law applicable to the legal problems disclosed by the facts; and (iii) judgment based on the combined effect (i) and (ii) above. However, for the purposes of the doctrine of precedents, ingredients No. (ii) is the vital element in the decision. This indeed is the ratio decidendi. It is not every thing said by a Judge constitutes a precedent. The principle upon which the case is decided is alone binding on the party so the analysis of a decision and isolate from it the ratio decidendi is material. Even where the direct facts of an earlier case appear to be identical to those of the case before the court, the Judge is not bound to draw the same inference as drawn in the earlier case, Dalbir Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR 1979 SC 1384 (1390): (1979) 3 SCC 745.

The principle or rule of law on which a court decision is founded, Black's Law Dictionary,7th Edn., 1269.

The ratio decidendi of a Judgment has to be found out only on reading the entire judgment. In fact, the ratio of the judgment is what is set out in the judgment itself. The answer to the question would necessarily have to be read in the context of what is set out in the judgment and not in isolation. In case of any doubt as regards any observations, reasons and principles, the other part of the judgment has to be looked into. By reading a line here and there from the judgment, one cannot find out of the entire ratio decidendi of the judgment, Islamic Academy of Education v. State of Karnataka, AIR 2003 SC 3724 (3737): (2003) 6 SCC 697. (Constitution of India, Art. 141)