The nature and ambit of this court's power under Article the 142 of the constitution.

           PETITIONER:
DELHI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

Vs.

RESPONDENT:
SKIPPER CONSTRUCTION COMPANY(P) LTD. & ANOTHER

DATE OF JUDGMENT:06/05/1996

BENCH:
JEEVAN REDDY, B.P. (J)
BENCH:
JEEVAN REDDY, B.P. (J)
PARIPOORNAN, K.S.(J)

CITATION:
 1996 AIR 2005  1996 SCC  (4) 622
 JT 1996 (4)   679  1996 SCALE  (4)202


ACT:



HEADNOTE:



JUDGMENT:

J U D G M E N T B.P. JEEVAN REDDY,J.

The nature and ambit of this court's power under Article the 142 of the constitution.

Article 142(1) of the Constitution of India reads:

"142 Enforcement of decrees and orders of Supreme Court and orders as to descovery, etc.---(1) 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."

In re: Vinay Chandra Mishra [1995 (2) S.C.C.584], this Court dealt with the scope and width of the power of this Court under Article 142. After referring to the earlier decisions of the Court in extenso, it is held that "statutory provisions cannot override the constitutional provisions and Article 142(1) being a constitutional power it cannot be limited or conditioned by any statutary provision. [Para 48]". lt is also held that "the jurisdiction and powers of this Court under Article 142 are supplementary in nature and are provided to do complete justice in any matter....". In other words, the power under Article 142 is meant to supplement the existing legal framework - to do complete justice between the parties - and not to supplant it. It is conceived to meet situations which cannot be effectively and appropriately tackled by the existing provisions of law. As a matter of fact, we think it advisable to leave this power undefined and uncatalogued so that it remains elastic enough to be moulded to suit the given situation. The very fact that this power is conferred only upon this Court, and on no one else, is itself an assurance that it will be used with due restraint and circumspection, keeping in view the ultimate object of doing complete justice between the parties.