LEGAL MAXIM

MAXIM

Audi Alteram Partem

MEANING

This maxim means listen to the other side or let the other side be heard. The person should be given an opportunity so that he can defend himself before the court of law. It also means that no person shall be left unheard.

RELATED CASE LAW AND EXPLANATION

In the case of Union of India v. W.N. Chadha 1 , the Apex Court observed that the rule of audi alteram partem is a rule of natural justice and it cannot be used when it leads to injustice. Thus, its usage is excluded to cases where nothing unfair can be derived by not expending an opportunity to present and meet a case. This rule cannot be used to defeat the ends of justice or to make the law ‘lifeless, absurd, and self-defeating or plainly contrary to the common sense of the situation’ and this rule may be discarded in very exceptional circumstances where compulsory necessity so demands.

credit: Cyndhia. JR