What is Article 142 of the Constitution?
The Supreme Court of India invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to quash multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) filed across various states against participants of the nationwide examination protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
- The Court’s order gave legal force to a negotiated settlement between the Union government and the protest group over the NEET-UG 2026 exam leak.
- By clubbing and scrapping these cases directly, the Supreme Court bypassed the conventional statutory route for quashing FIRs, sparking a fresh debate on the scope, application, and boundaries of Article 142.
- Article 142 empowers the Supreme Court to ensure “complete justice”, but its broad and undefined scope raises concerns about judicial overreach, excessive discretion and separation of powers.
- The way forward lies in judicial restraint, adherence to precedent, reasoned orders and stronger institutional safeguards to ensure Article 142 supplements rather than bypasses statutory law.
- Article Article 142(1) empowers the Supreme Court to pass any “decree or order as it is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it.”
- The Constitution notably does not define what constitutes “complete justice” or the specific circumstances for its use.
- Article 142(2) empowers the Court to secure the attendance of persons, discovery or production of documents, investigation, and punishment for contempt, subject to laws made by Parliament.
- The provision traces its roots to Section 210 of the Government of India Act, 1935, and earlier colonial-era practices of resolving disputes based on “justice, equity and good conscience” when written law was absent.
- Originally drafted as Article 118, it was adopted by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, without any formal debate. Two proposed amendments were moved but subsequently withdrawn.
- Because it was passed without debate, the Constituent Assembly left the definition of this expansive power open, allowing the Supreme Court to interpret and shape its boundaries on a case-by-case basis over the past seven decades.
