Sketching the Limits of Article 142 of the Constitution of India: A Constitutional Necessity

Article 142 of the Constitution of India reads: Thus, article 142 vests the Supreme Court of India with a repository of discretionary power that can be wielded in appropriate circumstances to deliver ‘complete justice’ in a given case. It is pertinent to mention here that no other constitution in the world contains similar provisions except for two very recent constitutions, that is, Bangladesh (article 104) and Nepal (article 88[2]), both of which seem to have borrowed the provisions from the Constitution of India. The term ‘complete justice’ is comprised of two words, that is, ‘complete’ and ‘justice’. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines ‘complete’ as ‘having all necessary parts, elements, or steps or thorough or concluded’, whereas ‘Justice’ has been understood and defined by various scholars, philosophers, and social scientists in various ways and connotations. Plato defines it thus: ‘Justice is a proper, harmonious relationship between the warring parts of the person or city’. Hobbes and Rousseau understand ‘Justice’ as a process of giving and protecting the rights and liberties of a person.