Precedent, as a source of law, is of great significance in common law systems unlike civil law systems. Since India has a common law system, Precedents constitute a vast source of law. A judicial precedent, as defined by Keeton, is a judicial decision to which authority has in some measures been attached, G. W. Keeton, The Elementary Principles of Jurisprudence, 2nd ed., p. 96. The doctrine of precedent was originally evolved in England. The traditional view of the function of an English Judge that it is not to make law but to decide cases in accordance with the existing legal rules gives rise to the doctrine of binding precedent whereby the judge is bound to apply the rules of law contained in those decisions, R. J. Walker and M. G. Walker, The English Legal System, 3rd ed., p. 122. The operation of the doctrine depends upon the hierarchy of the courts A court is bound by the decisions of a court above itself in the hierarchy and, usually, by a court of equivalent standing ....