JUDGMENT

Girish Kathpalia, J.

1. Cogent and consistent answering to every "why" is the DNA of demosprudence. Consistency of not just the content of reasoning, but consistency of also the anvil on which the process of reasoning rests are antedote to the vice of arbitrariness. Every decision making authority, be it judicial or administrative, being public servant is accountable to the State and its subjects. Consistency, both in content and in procedure has to be adhered to in order to ensure predictability of the decisions. The absence of consistency and the consequent unpredictability of the decisions, both judicial as well as administrative leads to cynicism in the society. In order to ensure procedural and content consistency in decisions, every decision making authority should ensure that in a given set of circumstances, their decision must be on same lines as that of their predecessor or co-ordinate authorities in similar set of circumstances. Where a decision making authority finds itself unable to agree with the view earlier taken, by the predecessor or the co-ordinate, the authority concerned is duty bound to record cogent reasons for deviating. Significance of precedence ca