The law laid down by the Supreme Court of India is binding upon all the courts in view of the mandate of Art. 141 of the Constitution of India, which reads as under: '141. Law declared by Supreme Court to be binding on all courts.— The law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India.' No court in India can or should ignore the law laid down by the Supreme Court. The difficulty arises, when the decisions of the Apex Court are found to be an exercise in contradiction. Of course, it must be said to the credit of learned Judges of the Supreme Court in reminding us every now and then by candidly admitting that though they are final, they are not infallible. The principle of stare decisis is certainly inapplicable to the decisions of the Supreme Court, though if a different view is to be taken, the matter is required to be referred to the Constitution Bench and if an earlier decision of the Constitution Bench is ....