Right of private defence, the right of private defence of person and property is recognised in all free, civilised, democratic societies within certain reasonable limits. Those limits are dictated by two considerations: (1) that the same right is claimed by all other members of the society and (2) that it is the State which generally undertakes the responsibility for the maintenance of law and order. The citizens, as a general rule, are neither expected to run away of safety when faced with grave and imminent danger to their person or property as a result of unlawful aggression, nor are they expected, by use of force, to right the wrongs done to them or to punish the wrongdoer for commission of offences. The right of private defence serves a social purpose and as observed by the Supreme Court more than once there is nothing more degrading to the human spirit than to run away in face of peril. But this right is basically preventive and not punitive, Gottipulla Venkata Siva Subbrayanam v. State of Andhra Pradesh, AIR 1970 SC 1079 (1087): (1970) 1 SCC 235: (1970) 3 SCR 423. (Penal Code, 1960, 97)
The right of private defence is a right of defence, not a retribution. It is available in face of imminent peril to those who act in good faith and in no case can the right be conceded to a person who stage-manages a situation wherein the right can be used as a shield to justify an act of aggression, State of U.P. v. Ram Swarup, AIR 1974 SC 1570 (1574): (1974) 4 SCC 764: (1975) 1 SCR 409. (Penal Code, 1960, 97)
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