The maxim ‘per incuriam’ is derived from the latin expression which means ‘through inadvertence’. “Incuria” means ‘carelessness’. In practice, per incuriam appears to mean per ignoratium.
At times a decision may be given in ignorance or forgetfulness of some statutory provision or of some authority binding on the Court concerned, so that in such cases some part of the decision or some step in the reasoning on which it is based is found on that account to be demonstrated wrong.
The English Courts were the first ones to develop this principle in relaxation of the rule of stare decisis. The quotable in law is avoided and ignored if it is rendered in ignorantium of a statute or other binding authority.
Hon’ble Justice Sabyasachi Mukherjee in A.R. Antulay Case (AIR 1984 SC 718) while dealing with the concept of per incuriam stated that it shall not be a well settled principle of law to follow the doctrine of stare decisis in cases which were subjected to per incuriam. The same view was echoed by the Supreme Court in the case of Pb.L.D & R.Corpn. Ltd. V. Presiding Officer, Labour Court Case(1990) 3 SCC 682.
Similarly, In the case of Siddharam Satlingappa Mhetre v. State of Maharashtra (AIR 2011 SC 312) where the Judges did not follow the decision laid down in the case of G.S. Sibbia v. State of Punjab Case (AIR 1980 SC 1632) where the precedent was laid down regarding all the facets of anticipatory bail enumerated under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Hence since a vital aspect of following the precedent was missed by the judiciary it was held that the judgment given in the case of Siddharam was per incuriam.
Hence it can be well concluded that the principle of per incuriam is an established principle of law whereby the judgments carried in forgetfulness or omission of a certain precedent or law or a statute is not a proper and valid judgment and therefore it is an exception to the rule of doctrine of stare decisis and such a decision does not hold good to be a valid precedent for other related similar cases.
