A Critical Study of Plenary Powers OF Supreme Court Under Article 142 OF The Constitution of India
A Critical Study of Plenary Powers OF Supreme Court Under Article 142 OF The Constitution of India
OF
SUPREME COURT UNDER ARTICLE 142
OF
THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
INTRODUCTION
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CHAPTER!
incarnate myselfto protect the virtuous and to destroy wickedfrom age to age."
-Shrimadbhagwatgeeta IV 718
This is true because man’s greatest interest on the earth is justice and seat
of justice is seat of God. The state must always use its supreme power for
state. Legislative body is expected to legislate for securing objective and policy
set out in the Constitution, of which protection of fundamental rights and human
rights are inseparable parts. Executives have to execute these laws and the
policies. The prime responsibility is of Courts to see that the legislatures and
executives while discharging their respective duties are not encroaching upon the
fundamental rights of the people and doing justice with them. As it is stated
earlier the sovereign power of the state is entrusted to these three organs.
task which is to be shared by each one of these three organs. Thus, according to
Indian constitution the powers of these organs are coextensive with each other.
No one is superior to the other. They have to function in coordination with each
other.
envisioned by the constitution. However, in recent past, Supreme Court has not
only exercised powers as defined under Indian constitution but for doing justice in
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real sense has expanded scope of the power and the source of this expanded
attain the goal of doing complete justice. This article which was intended to be
used sparingly is nowadays used frequently. Using this power the apex court has
issued several directions which are encroaching on the domain of the other two
Powers into lime light This has raised doubts as to the legitimacy of the Supreme
Court actions. In this context the provision of Art. 142 are studied.
Rajat Pradhan in his article “Ironing out the Creases: Re-examining the
of this provision by the apex court, in order to grant mutual divorce where there is
deadlock between the parties. He has focused on the question Whether Art. 142
substantive statutory provisions. In order to justify the use of such power he has
Virendra Kumar on the same issue has written an article titled as “Judicial
Legislation under Art. 142 of the constitution: A Pragmatic Prompt For Proper
1 Rajat Pradhan, Ironing out the Creases: Re-examining the Contours ofInvoking Art. 142(1) of
the Constitution. http://www.conmienni.org/in/joumals/NALSAR 2011/1 pdf.
2 Virendra Kumar,"Judicial Legislation under Art. 142 ofthe constitution: A Pragmatic Prompt
for Proper Legislation by Parliament", 54.3 JUl (2012) 364.
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cannot pass orders under this provision which are inconsistent with the
opportunity for the parliament to move in and to legislate in the area, which is
consistently being occupied by the apex court in exercise of its special powers
Dr. Sopan Ivare has written research paper on “Power of The Supreme
power of the Supreme Court under Art. 142 as supplementary. It empowers Court
to reduce the gap between legal justice and real justice. This power is in support
of the power of the court under Art. 32 which imposes a constitutional obligation
on it to forge new tools, which may be necessary for doing complete justice and
provision is that, the Supreme Court must not be obliged to depend on the
executive for the enforcement of its decrees and orders. Such dependence would
both of which were held to constitute the basic structure of the Constitution.
justice has given it a different dimension which was not intended by the founding
fathers. Analyzing different case laws he comes to the conclusion that die
Therefore Article 142 does not confer substantive power on the Supreme Court to
do "complete justice".
Harish B.N and Protima Pande have observed Article 142 is being
increasingly resorted to by Ihe apex court in all matters before it, where there is a
need for judicial activism.6 According to them, between 1950 to 1985 there were
around 15 reported decisions where Article 142 had been resorted to. In contrast,
in the post 1985 era there are already as many as 50 reported judgments where
adopted by the apex court while dealing with these cases. Conservative approach
approach adopted to broaden the scope of this power. Expansive view adopted to
recently Art. 142 has become a source of substantive power and is frequently
used. The power under Art. 142 is expended by the court through wide
interpretation. It is one of the areas where court has shown its activism to do
justice with the people, while this move of the court has been attacked by other
organs, on the ground that the said exercise of the power goes against theory of
separation of powers.
6 Harish B.N & Protima Pandey, “Supreme Court, Complete Justice and Article 142: Scopefor
Unlimited Judicial Action. ” HeinonIineebackup.com/hol_cgi-bin/getjdf.
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considerably. The influence of the judges and courts in day to day life of ordinary
people is increasing. Prof. S.P.Sathe says “There is new judicial assertiveness and
willingness on the part of the judiciary to confront with other branches of the
becoming blur but is completely obliterated.”7 Due to this, die harmony between
these three organs of government has become a matter of deep controversy and is
one hand and executive and legislatures on the other hand is not a new
phenomenon. But recently this has become unprecedented. Both the sides are
‘everyone has to remain within the Laxman Reka of the Constitution’. In recent
times, allegations have been made that the judiciary in general - and the Supreme
Court in particular - has, by entering into the domain of the executive, "taken
over" the administration of the country. The Courts in general and the Supreme
Court in particular is accused nowadays for its judicial activism or for usurping
1 Satfae S.P., ‘Judicial Activism in India - Transgressing Borders and Enforcing Limits’, New
Delhi: Oxford University Press, page 310.
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This trend has created the feeling of insecurity amongst legislatures and
the executives. The reactions are noticeable. In the year 2005, then Lok Sabha
Speaker Somnath Chatteijee said that “there was a need for maintaining the
balance of power between the different pillars of democracy. The judiciary should
not interfere in the activities of the executive and legislature”. He went to the
against the judicial usurpation is resonating day in and day out Recently .putting
overreach with Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh thumping the desk to endorse
view “that judges should not govern the country or evolve policies and apply the
right.” It is also observed that while expanding the limits of any provision in the
constitution and creating new rights by interpretation court shall take into account
the feasibility of it. Honorable Chief Justice further opined that “whenever
judiciary lays down die law, it should not interfere with governance. We are not
crossed its limits? Has it encroached upon the powers of the legislatures and
therefore, necessary to re-examine the roles postulated by the Constitution for the
three wings of the State in order to determine the ‘legitimacy’ of the powers
exercised by the judiciary? Focus of this criticism is the expanded unit of Art.
142 of the constitution and the directions which are issued by the apex court in
Thus there am good reasons to study functioning of the courts and to observe
changing trends regarding ‘use of plenary powers by the Supreme Court in order
to do complete justice’ .It is also necessary to evaluate the judicial decisions Vis a
Vis its outcome and impact on other organs. The study is also important from the
constitution.
2. To study die legal framework surrounding the exercise of power under Art
Supreme Court.
Thus the main object of the present research work is to study expansion of
judicial power under Art 142 of the constitution and to analyze this in the context
1.4 Hypothesis
the state.
1.5 Methodology
suitable for the topic. However wherever it is appropriate, opinions of judges and
This field of study primarily unfolds through case laws and judicial
decisions. Case laws U/ A 142 is the main source used to understand the nature
and scope of the power to do complete justice. However case citations and
mechanical narration of the principles enunciated into the case laws is not
sufficient .The context and the background in which these principles were laid
down is also a matter of concern. So the cases are discussed and are analyzed with
factual background, and the attempt is made to give only those factual matrices
Acts, Statutes other relevant decisions of foreign and Indian Courts along
with some reference to committee reports are the primary sources used by the
researcher. The secondary sources on which the researcher has relied upon are
scholarly articles published in Indian and foreign journals and the text books of
renowned jurists, to name few of them Prof. Satyaranjan Sathe, Prof. Upendra
Baxi, H.M.Seervai and M.P.Jain. Information is also collected from other sources
objectives and Hypothesis of die study are clearly defined. Methodology and
the treatment given to the doctrine of separation of powers in U.S.A, U.K and
India. In India we have not adopted strict separation of powers but a different
constitution giving effect to this theory of checks and balances are discussed. The
theory has emerged as the basic structure of the constitution mainly through the
interpretation given by the Supreme Court, so relevant case laws giving effect to
the role of die Court. This chapter deals with the concept and the analysis of the
role of the judiciary having focus on role of Supreme Court of India. The chapter
development in U.SA and England and in India. The researcher in this chapter
has attempted to explain the connections between the judicial review and judicial
activism further explaining the nature and scope of the judicial activism in India.
The trend of judicial activism in India started with the objective of enforcing
fundamental rights and human rights of the people. However nowadays judiciary
is always criticized for its excessivism or for its overreach; critical analysis of
The focus of this chapter is Art. 142 which gives plenary power to the apex court
to do complete justice. This chapter covers die discussion on nature, scope and
philosophy of Art. 142 of the constitution. At the end it explores the connections
Fifth chapter unfolds through the analysis of cases the use of plenary
powers by the court for different purposes. It deals with dynamics of this plenary
Use of plenary powers and judicial activism shown by the court under it is
answer this criticism, justifying use of the provision by the Court for doing
compete justice.
is made in sixth chapter to rind out new explanation which can justify use of the
power by the court. It argues the idea of compete justice is interpreted with
broadest connotations so that Court can legitimately exercise its plenary powers
and can satisfy needs and aspirations of the people in general. This is because the
‘idea of justice’ means only one thing i.e.to giving the people what they deserve.
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Thus idea of complete justice gives legitimacy to the courts actions and gives new
In the seventh chapter, conclusions and suggestions are made on the basis