Source: https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/administrative-law/supreme-courts-power-to-do-complete-justice-administrative-law-essay.php
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 08:37:36+00:00

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Enforcement of decrees and orders of Supreme Court and orders as to discovery, etc. 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 any decree so passed or order so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament and, until provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner as the President may by order  prescribe.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India is the custodian and guarantor of the rights of the citizens, and is vested with the sacred duty to do justice between the parties. The objective of the project is an examination into the nature and scope of the plenary jurisdiction as enshrined in Ar. 142 (1) of the Constitution of India. The primary question is as to the efficacy of the article to do complete justice. The contemporaneous question which arises is that as the court is already under an obligation to render justice between the parties, whenever there is a lis, the matter being brought before it, then why the need of a separate article which spells out an undefined jurisdiction to the court, to pass any order or decree so as to do complete justice. The project will point out as to the inconsistent pattern vis-à-vis the use of Ar. 142 of the Constitution of India, by the apex court, and to the recent trend of invoking it, rather excessively. It shall be an earnest endeavour to frame a blueprint as to the circumstances and situations which merit the use of Ar. 142, although the same cannot be expected to be an exhaustive in nature. The debated notion that whether Ar. 142 can be invoked to pass a direction of order, which is in conflict or contravention of express statutory provisions shall also be examined into. The same shall be viewed through the prism of constitutionalism and in light of the recent verdicts in Leila David v. State of Maharashtra  and Anil Kumar Jain v. Maya Jain  . The recent reservations expressed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court vis-à-vis Ar. 142 in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Parvathneni  and University of Kerala v. Council of Principals of Colleges, Kerala  shall also be perused.
Narrow interpretation of Ar. 142 (1): The apex court had initially interpreted the article in a restricted and narrow sense, thereby subjecting its jurisdiction to certain limits. In Prem Chand Garg v. Excise Commr  the court had suggested that its power under Ar. 142 (1) cannot be exercised against a definite statutory provision. The same was reiterated in A.R. Antulay v. R.S. Nayak  .
The high Court’s power under Ar. 226 of the Constitution of India is not at par with the constitutional jurisdiction conferred upon the Supreme Court under Ar. 142. The Supreme Courts power under Ar. 142 is not available to High Courts and the High Courts have no power to do complete justice. The abovementioned notions are nebulous to the extent, as they contemplate that the High Courts have no power to do complete justice in a lis, and it is only the Supreme Court which can do “complete justice”. If this is the correct position, then every litigant who has not got complete justice from the High Court has to appeal to the Supreme Court. It is most humbly submitted the word justice is of wide import and cannot be cabined within doctrinaire limits. Justice means that it shall always be ‘complete’ in nature, and that every nerve in the court of law shall be strained for achieving the same. Even the Preamble to the Constitution of India contemplates that justice shall be social, economic and political in nature. Dispensation of justice does not create a hierarchy among the courts of law. The correct position is that the Supreme Court and the High Courts are both empowered to do complete justice under the Constitution of India; however the latter has to dispense justice within a circumscribed domain and the Supreme Court of India, being the final court of law, knows no bounds and limitations while dispensing justice to the parties.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in a plethora of cases has laid down several conditions and prerequisites which are essential and are to be taken into consideration before invoking Ar. 142 (1). The same are being laid down and a blueprint is being envisaged in addition to the stated conditions. The said factors are in no manner exhaustive in nature and it is always open to the apex court to weigh the circumstances, as per the different facts of the case, which may merit a departure from the procedural and established laws.
The peculiar and perverse nature of the case, which merit a departure from the procedural laws, so as to remedy the grievances of the instant case.
In view of Ar. 145 (5), the concurrence of a majority of judges present at the hearing of a case is necessary for any judgement or order. Hence, for the exercise of Ar. 142 (1) it is necessary that a majority of the judges of the division bench must be in favour of exercising the inherent power of the court enshrined in Ar. 142.
Hon’ble Judges: Altamas Kabir, G.S. Singhvi and H.L. Dattu, JJ.
In the instant case writ petition was filed by Leila Davidin the Supreme Court on 4thAugust, 2008, under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, inter alia, asking the court to pass several directions and orders. One of the reliefs sought was to issue the writ of mandamus directing criminal proceedings and strongest punishment to 12 judges of the Bombay High Court.
At the outset, the Court observed that some of the allegations made in the two writ petitions, as well as in the supporting affidavits, appeared prima facie to be per se contempt of this Court. Although, the petitioners were asked to withdraw the allegations made, they refused to do so and submitted that they stood by the said averments and strongly urged the Court to issue process to arrest the 12 Judges of the High Court of Bombay mentioned in prayer (4) to the Writ Petition. The court initiated contempt proceedings against the petitioner and the matters was listed to be heard by a bench comprising of Pasayat and Ganguly J.J.
When the hearing commenced, the writ petitioners disrupted the proceedings by using very offensive, intemperate and abusive language at a high pitch. The order recorded by Dr. Justice Pasayat indicates that one of the petitioners had gone to the extent of saying that the Judges should be jailed for having initiated proceedings against them and that the Judges should be punished for not taking care of their fundamental rights. One of the writ petitioners, namely, Dr. Sarita Parikh, went to the extent of throwing footwear at the Judges. His Lordship also recorded that all this happened in the presence of the learned Solicitor General of India (now Attorney General for India), two learned Additional Solicitor Generals and a large number of learned Counsel and advocates, including the President of the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association.
Justice Pasayat held the behaviour of the petitioners to be contumacious in nature and derogatory, holding them liable for contempt of court in the face of the court. His Lordship felt that there was no need to issue any notice and holding them to be guilty of criminal contempt of this Court, inflicted a punishment of three months’ simple imprisonment on them.
The matter was finally put to rest when the matter was posted before a bench comprising of Kabir, Singvi and Dattu, J.J. The majority decision of the court was declared by exercising the inherent power of the court as mentioned in Ar. 142 (1) of the Constitution of India. Justice Kabir was of the opinion that Justice Pasayat was well within his jurisdiction to deal with the matter in summary form, in the light of the court’s jurisdiction under Ar. 129 and 142 of the Constitution. The court accepted the submissions of the Attorney General that S. 14 of the Contempt of Courts Act (hereinafter for the sake of brevity referred as the Act) did not preclude the court from dealing the contempt proceeding in summary manner and it only prescribed a procedure to be followed normally and not in exceptional circumstances as the instant one. The court justified its stand by saying that the contemnors showed no signs of remorse and instead filled a separate writ petition, not only reiterating their earlier stand, but also attacking the Office of the President of India, the Prime Minister, Attorney General and other high dignitaries.
The contemnors were afforded a chance by the court to purge their behaviour by tendering an apology, but they continued the use of indecorous and indecent language, trying to scandalize the court in the eyes of public. The petitioners also claimed that they had a fundamental right as envisaged by Ar. 19 (1) (a) and Ar. 21 of the Constitution of India, and the same was being rightfully exercised.
The court was of the opinion that where the incident had taken place within the precincts of the court room, within the sight of the learned judges and senior advocates like the Attorney General and the Solicitor General, the compliance of the procedure in S. 14 of the Act was redundant as the acts by the contemnors were intentional in nature. Hence the court felt that it was justified in the instant case to give a goby to the principles of natural justice i.e. the principle of audi altrem partem.
Justice Ganguly seems to have taken a pedantic approach of the entire matter. The learned judge was of the opinion that compliance of the procedure as envisaged in S. 14 of the Act was mandatory. According to him, sentencing the contemnors to imprisonment, without giving them an opportunity to defend themselves was in contravention of the due process of law, and would impinge upon the personal liberty of the individuals as guaranteed by Ar. 21 of the Constitution of India. The learned judge struck a word of caution that it would be a great travesty of justice, if the contemnors were condemned unheard, denying them principles of natural justice, by giving a goby to the doctrine of audi altrem partem. He was of the opinion that although the conduct of the contemnors was contumacious in nature and amounted to contempt of court in the face of the Supreme Court, they could not be sentenced without being afforded a chance to defend themselves. Although the contemnors showed no signs of remorse of their behaviour the court should have a given them a chance to tender an apology.
Justice Ganguly was of the opinion that Ar. 142 could not be invoked in contravention of the express provisions of the statute, i.e. S. 14 of the Act, as it would amount to supplanting the law, which was not the correct position of law, vis-à-vis Ar. 142.
Section 14(1) of the Act prescribes that in initiating a contempt proceeding and when contempt is allegedly committed in the face of the Court, the Court has to inform the alleged contemnors in writing the charge of contempt and then afford them an opportunity to make their defence to the charge and thereafter on taking such evidence as may be necessary or as may be offered by the persons and after hearing them, proceed either forthwith or after adjournment to determine the matter of the charge and may make such order for the punishment or discharge of such persons as may be just.
In my opinion Ar. 142 (1) of the Constitution is an enabling provision which empowers the apex court to do complete justice in cases where the law is silent or in cases which have peculiar facts and circumstances. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has exhibited maturity and faith in the rule of law by imposing on itself restraints, so as to prevent the abuse the inherent powers. It has always been the earnest endeavour of our highest court that every nerve shall be strained in the court of law to meet the ends of justice. The application of law with a pedantic rigour, in my view, is otiose in nature if the litigants are unable to get justice after fighting a legal battle in the courts of law. It is the protective and healing power of the court which goes a long way in achieving the ends of justice. The correct position vis-à-vis Ar. 142 is that the court should ordinarily follow the procedure prescribed in the statutory enactments, balancing it with a humane and equitable approach. But in circumstances where the law is found to be inadequate or the court is of the opinion that there is a prospect of palpable injustice being done to the parties, it should exercise its inherent powers to do complete justice. The absence of any Constitutional Assembly Debate on Ar. 142 (Ar. 112 of the Draft Constitution) further suggests that the founding fathers wanted the powers under this article to remain undefined in nature, so as to enable the court to develop its own jurisprudence. It is submitted that Ar. 142 is a repository of unlimited powers, to do complete justice.
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