What is Article 142? Why VP Jagdeep Dhankhar called it a ‘nuclear missile’ | India News

Supreme Court, VP Jagdeep Dhankhar (R)

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar expressed severe considerations on Thursday relating to the judiciary’s rising reliance on Article 142 of the Constitution.
The Vice President described Article 142 as a “nuclear missile against democratic forces” that is still “available to the judiciary 24 x 7,” and called for a complete overview of constitutional interpretation practices in India.
His feedback got here within the backdrop of current judicial choices directing presidential actions on payments. This got here in response to the Supreme Court’s current ruling that set a three-month deadline for the President to resolve on payments forwarded by state governors.

What is Article 142?

Article 142 of the Constitution grants the Supreme Court extensive discretionary powers to cross any order crucial to make sure “complete justice” in a case earlier than it.
This provision permits the apex court docket to override present legal guidelines or fill authorized gaps with a view to comprehensively resolve a dispute. It can be utilized to problem instructions, implement decrees, compel manufacturing of paperwork, and even punish for contempt.
While typically seen as a highly effective instrument to ship justice, Article 142 has more and more drawn criticism from some political quarters for enabling judicial overreach.

VP Dhankhar’s concern

Speaking on the Valedictory Function of the Rajya Sabha Internship Programme, Dhankhar cautioned in opposition to a state of affairs the place the judiciary seems to direct the President, questioning the constitutional foundation for such authority.
“We cannot have a situation where you direct the President of India, and on what basis? The only right you have under the Constitution is to interpret the Constitution under Article 145(3),” he said, adding that such interpretation should come only from Constitution benches of five or more judges.
He suggested amending Article 145(3), which governs the size of benches for deciding substantial constitutional matters, arguing that the current practice dilutes the strength originally intended when the Supreme Court had just eight judges.
Referring specifically to the use of Article 142, Dhankhar said, “Article 142 has change into a nuclear missile in opposition to democratic forces, out there to the judiciary 24×7.”

Tamil Nadu case

The Vice President’s feedback got here in response to the Supreme Court’s April 8 ruling in a case involving the Tamil Nadu authorities and governor RN Ravi.
The high court docket held that when a invoice is re-passed by the meeting, the governor should assent to it and can’t reserve it for the President until substantial modifications are made.
The ruling, made by a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, invoked Article 142 to supply “complete justice” by deeming all 10 payments cleared from the date they have been re-presented to the governor.