Smt. Nilabati Behera Alias Lalit Behera ... vs State Of Orissa And Ors on 24 March, 1993
In case of Nilabati Behra v. State of Orissa,
(supra) the Apex Court held that citizen complaining of the
infringement of the indefeasible right under Article 21 cannot be
told that for the established violation of the fundamental right to
life, he cannot get any relief under the public law by the courts
exercising writ jurisdiction. The Court observed that if the
guarantee that deprivation of life and personal liberty cannot be
made except in accordance with law, is to be real, the enforcement
of the right in case of every contravention must also be possible in
the constitutional scheme, the mode of redress being that which is
appropriate in the facts of each case. This remedy in public law
has to be more readily available when invoked by the havenots, who
are not possessed of the wherewithal for enforcement of their rights
in private law, even though its exercise is to be tempered by
judicial restraint to avoid circumvention of private law remedies,
where more appropriate. (Emphasis supplied).