Articles 141 and 142: The Reach of the Court's Own Order
Chapter -Six
Syllabus topic 6, "Remedies"
Pages 318 to 320 of 430
In one line
Article 141 makes one decision bind the whole country, and Article 142 lets the Supreme Court do whatever complete justice requires.
In the wording a student can write in an exam: Article 141 provides that the law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India; Article 142(1) provides that the Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it, and that such a decree or order shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India.
Why they belong in a chapter on remedies
Because they decide what a remedy is worth. A writ quashing one order helps one person; Article 141 turns the reasoning into law for everybody. And Article 142 is the source of the relief that no writ names, which is how the Supreme Court has been able to fashion remedies in public interest and constitutional cases.
Article 141
"The law declared." Not the decision and not the order, but the proposition of law, which is the ratio decidendi. Obiter dicta are not binding, though they carry great weight.
"By the Supreme Court." A High Court's decisions bind courts subordinate to it by the hierarchy and by Article 227, not by Article 141.
"Shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India." It binds every court, and by extension tribunals. It has been held to refer to courts other than the Supreme Court itself, so the Supreme Court is not bound by its own decisions, though it departs from them only for good reason and ordinarily through a larger bench.
The consequence for administrative law. A ruling that a particular kind of clause does not oust the writ jurisdiction, or that a particular ground of review exists, is law throughout India from the moment it is declared. That is why a single decision such as L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India, AIR 1997 SC 1125, could change the position of every tribunal in the country at once.
Article 142
Clause (1). The power to pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it, enforceable throughout India in such manner as may be prescribed by or under a law made by Parliament and, until such provision is made, in such manner as the President may by order prescribe.
Clause (2). Subject to any law made by Parliament, the Supreme Court shall, as respects the whole of the territory of India, have all and every power to make any order for the purpose of securing the attendance of any person, the discovery or production of any documents, or the investigation or punishment of any contempt of itself.
Articles 141 and 142: The Reach of the Court's Own Order
What it has been used for. Directions in public interest cases; the curative petition in Rupa Ashok Hurra v. Ashok Hurra, AIR 2002 SC 1771; the recall of the Court's own order in A.R. Antulay v. R.S. Nayak, AIR 1988 SC 1531; and the moulding of relief so that a legally correct order does not produce an unjust result.
Its limits. The Court has said that the power cannot be used to do something contrary to an express statutory provision or to a fundamental principle of law, and it is a power to supplement the law rather than to supplant it.
Antulay, which shows both articles at work
A.R. Antulay v. R.S. Nayak, AIR 1988 SC 1531.
Facts. By an earlier order the Supreme Court had itself directed that the prosecution of a former Chief Minister under the Prevention of Corruption Act be withdrawn from the Special Judge and transferred to a High Court judge, although the statute required trial by a Special Judge. The accused applied to have that direction recalled.
Held. A seven-judge bench recalled its own direction. An order made in violation of a statutory provision or in breach of natural justice, even by the Supreme Court, is a nullity and can be recalled by the Court itself; no court can confer on a court a jurisdiction the statute does not give it, and the accused had not been heard on the transfer. The Court said it must undo the wrong it had itself done.
Why it matters here. It is the sharpest illustration of jurisdictional error, it shows Article 142 used to correct the Court's own mistake, and it shows the limit of Article 142: the earlier direction failed precisely because it went against a statute.
A worked example
A High Court quashes a rule as ultra vires and the State appeals. The Supreme Court agrees that the rule is bad, but eleven thousand appointments have been made under it over nine years.
Article 141 means that the declaration binds every court in India, so the rule is dead everywhere and not merely in that State's High Court. Article 142 lets the Court save the eleven thousand appointments by giving the declaration prospective effect, which no writ would permit and which is exactly what complete justice requires.
What this does NOT mean
It does not mean every sentence of a judgment is binding. Only the ratio.
It does not mean the Supreme Court is bound by itself. Article 141 speaks of courts other than the Supreme Court, though the Court respects its own decisions and departs through a larger bench.
Articles 141 and 142: The Reach of the Court's Own Order
It does not mean Article 142 is a general equity. It cannot be used against an express statutory provision.
Quick revision
Article 141: the law declared by the Supreme Court binds all courts in India; it is the ratio that binds, High Courts bind their own subordinate courts otherwise, and the Supreme Court is not itself bound. Article 142(1): the power to make any order necessary for doing complete justice in a pending cause, enforceable throughout India; clause (2) covers attendance, discovery and contempt of itself. Antulay shows both: the Court recalled its own direction because it was contrary to a statute and made without hearing the accused.
Test yourself
1. What exactly binds under Article 141? The law declared, which is the ratio decidendi of the decision, and it binds all courts within the territory of India other than the Supreme Court itself.
2. Give two uses of Article 142. Moulding relief, for instance by giving a declaration prospective effect, and creating a remedy the writs do not name, such as the curative petition in Rupa Ashok Hurra.
3. What is the limit of Article 142? It cannot be exercised contrary to an express statutory provision or a fundamental principle of law; it supplements the law rather than supplanting it, which is what Antulay illustrates.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.