Article 141 of the Constitution of India

Article 141 of the Constitution of India lays down that the law declared by the Supreme Court of India "shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India."^[1] It provides the constitutional basis for the doctrine of precedent (stare decisis) in the Indian legal system.^[2]^[3]

Article 141 is located in Part V (The Union) of the Indian Constitution, specifically within Chapter IV which deals with The Union Judiciary.^[3]

Text

The law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India.

— 141. Law declared by Supreme Court to be binding on all courts

Scope

While the text specifies "all courts," this has been interpreted to mean "all other courts." ^[1]^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b "Article 141: Law declared by Supreme Court to be binding on all courts". Constitution of India. Retrieved 2025-12-16.
^ Mishra, Anusha Agarwal & Preeshaa (2025-11-15). "Diverge and Conquer: Why Judicial Divergence is Healthy for the Indian Judicial Framework". RSRR. Retrieved 2025-12-16.
^ ^a ^b Choudhry, Sujit; Khosla, Madhav; Mehta, Pratap Bhanu (May 3, 2016). The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-105862-2. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
^ Rajagopal, Krishnadas (2023-01-12). "Under Constitution, law declared by the Supreme Court is binding on all". The Hindu. Retrieved 2025-12-16.

This article incorporates text from judicial opinions and related texts from the Supreme Court of India. As a work of the Supreme Court, the text is in the public domain.

[:1-1] "Article 141: Law declared by Supreme Court to be binding on all courts". Constitution of India. Retrieved 2025-12-16.

[2] Mishra, Anusha Agarwal & Preeshaa (2025-11-15). "Diverge and Conquer: Why Judicial Divergence is Healthy for the Indian Judicial Framework". RSRR. Retrieved 2025-12-16.

[:0-3] Choudhry, Sujit; Khosla, Madhav; Mehta, Pratap Bhanu (May 3, 2016). The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-105862-2. Retrieved December 16, 2025.

[4] Rajagopal, Krishnadas (2023-01-12). "Under Constitution, law declared by the Supreme Court is binding on all". The Hindu. Retrieved 2025-12-16.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Constitution of India
Part of a series on the

Preamble
Parts I ∙ II ∙ III ∙ IV ∙ IVA ∙ V ∙ VI ∙ VII VIII ∙ IX ∙ IXA ∙ IXB ∙ X ∙ XI ∙ XII ∙ XIII ∙ XIV XIVA ∙ XV ∙ XVI ∙ XVII ∙ XVIII ∙ XIX ∙ XX ∙ XXI XXII
Schedules First ∙ Second ∙ Third ∙ Fourth ∙ Fifth Sixth ∙ Seventh ∙ Eighth ∙ Ninth Tenth ∙ Eleventh ∙ Twelfth
Appendices I ∙ II ∙ III ∙ IV ∙ V
Amendments List ∙ 1 ∙ 2 ∙ 3 ∙ 4 ∙ 5 ∙ 6 ∙ 7 ∙ 8 ∙ 9 ∙ 10 ∙ 11 ∙ 12 ∙ 13 ∙ 14 ∙ 15 ∙ 16 ∙ 17 ∙ 18 ∙ 19 ∙ 20 ∙ 21 ∙ 22 ∙ 23 ∙ 24 ∙ 25 ∙ 26 ∙ 27 ∙ 28 ∙ 29 ∙ 30 ∙ 31 ∙ 32 ∙ 33 ∙ 34 ∙ 35 ∙ 36 ∙ 37 ∙ 38 ∙ 39 ∙ 40 ∙ 41 ∙ 42 ∙ 43 ∙ 44 ∙ 45 ∙ 46 ∙ 47 ∙ 48 ∙ 49 ∙ 50 ∙ 51 ∙ 52 ∙ 53 ∙ 54 ∙ 55 ∙ 56 ∙ 57 ∙ 58 ∙ 59 ∙ 60 ∙ 61 ∙ 62 ∙ 63 ∙ 64 ∙ 65 ∙ 66 ∙ 67 ∙ 68 ∙ 69 ∙ 70 ∙ 71 ∙ 72 ∙ 73 ∙ 74 ∙ 75 ∙ 76 ∙ 77 ∙ 78 ∙ 79 ∙ 80 ∙ 81 ∙ 82 ∙ 83 ∙ 84 ∙ 85 ∙ 86 ∙ 87 ∙ 88 ∙ 89 ∙ 90 ∙ 91 ∙ 92 ∙ 93 ∙ 94 ∙ 95 ∙ 96 ∙ 97 ∙ 98 ∙ 99 ∙ 100 ∙ 101 ∙ 102 ∙ 103 ∙ 104 ∙ 105 ∙ 106
Related topics Constituent Assembly of India Constitution bench (India) Union List State List Concurrent List Judicial review Basic structure doctrine Uniform civil code