NEWS: The Supreme Court exercised its power of complete justice to make the Right to Safe Travel a Fundamental Right under Article 21 and issued binding nationwide safety directives.

About Complete Justice

• Article 142(1) àEmpowers the SC to pass orders to deliver complete justice in pending matters.
• Complete justiceà Serves as an equitable, constitutional safety valve, enabling the Supreme Court to address remedial gaps in existing law.
• PoweràPlenary + residuary= operating where statutory law is silent, inadequate, or causes injustice.
• Anil Kumar Jain v. Maya Jainà High Courts lack equivalent powers; their extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 isn’t equal to the Supreme Court’s power to grant “complete justice”

Judicial Evolution of Article 142

• Prem Chand Garg case (1962)à Complete justice must align with Fundamental Rights and statutory laws.
• Union Carbide Corporation case (1991)à Statutory prohibitions cannot limit powers under Article 142.
• Supreme Court Bar Association v. UoI (1998)à The Article is meant to supplement, not supplant, existing statutory provisions.
• Ayodhya Verdict (2019)à Used Article 142 to grant alternative land to the Sunni Central Waqf Board.
• Tamil Nadu v. Governor (2025)à Utilised it to create a ‘deemed assent’ mechanism for bills withheld by the Governor to prevent constitutional paralysis.

Significance of Article 142

• Serves as an interim remedy when legislative delays leave rights-based issues legally unprotected
• Reinforces the Supreme Court’s role as constitutional guardian by enabling resolution of deadlocks between government branches.
• Facilitates judicial responses to evolving socio-economic challenges like public health, environmental concerns etc

Key Concerns

• Separation of Powersà Frequent invocation of Article 142 can undermine checks and balances by eroding powers reserved for the elected executive and legislature.
• The open-ended phrase “complete justice” risks judicial overreach due to its subjective interpretation, which may reduce legal predictability.
• Article 142 orders bypass immediate democratic scrutiny and the standard legal review available to laws enacted by elected representatives= Limited Accountability