Shield Law - Law Dictionary Search Results

Right of private defence

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...