Supreme Court — Set 3

Correct Answer: B. Article 136

• **Article 136 — Special Leave to Appeal** = grants the Supreme Court discretionary power to admit appeals from any judgment or order of any court or tribunal in India, except military tribunals. • **Discretionary residual power** — the SC is not obligated to grant special leave; it uses this as a residual power to ensure justice is not denied for want of a regular appeal route. • 💡 Option A (Article 132) provides appellate jurisdiction in constitutional cases from HCs; Option C (Article 133) covers civil appellate jurisdiction from HCs; Option D (Article 134) covers criminal appellate jurisdiction from HCs — none are as broad as the discretionary Article 136.

Correct Answer: B. Article 143

• **Article 143 — Advisory Jurisdiction** = authorises the President to refer any question of law or fact of public importance to the Supreme Court for its opinion. • **Opinion not binding** — the Supreme Court's advisory opinion under Article 143 is not binding on the President, who may or may not act on it. • 💡 Option A (Article 144) requires all civil and judicial authorities to act in aid of the Supreme Court; Option C (Article 142) grants the SC power to pass orders for 'complete justice'; Option D (Article 141) makes SC declarations binding on all courts.

Correct Answer: A. Article 129

• **Article 129 — Court of Record** = designates the Supreme Court as a Court of Record, meaning its judgments and proceedings are recorded for perpetual memory and can be admitted as evidence. • **Contempt power** — as a Court of Record, the SC has inherent power to punish for contempt of itself — this contempt power flows directly from this Court of Record status. • 💡 Option B (Article 131) deals with original jurisdiction in federal disputes, not Court of Record status; Option C (Article 128) provides for appointment of ad hoc judges; Option D (Article 130) deals with the seat of the Supreme Court.

Correct Answer: D. Itself and all subordinate courts

• **SC contempt power — Itself and all subordinate courts** = the Supreme Court can punish contempt of itself (under Article 129) and of all courts subordinate to it, covering the entire judicial hierarchy. • **Contempt of Courts Act, 1971** — Parliament enacted this Act to define and regulate civil and criminal contempt; it governs how contempt proceedings are conducted. • 💡 Option A (High Courts only) is too narrow — the SC's contempt power covers all subordinate courts, not just HCs; Option B (Supreme Court itself only) is also too narrow — it misses the subordinate courts dimension; Option C (Tribunals only) is both too narrow and misses the main courts.

Correct Answer: C. Parliament

• **Parliament — Enlarges SC jurisdiction** = Article 138 empowers Parliament to confer additional jurisdiction and powers on the Supreme Court with respect to Union List matters or by special agreement with State Governments. • **By law, not constitutional amendment** — Parliament can do this by ordinary legislation, making it flexible to expand the SC's domain without a constitutional amendment. • 💡 Option A (Chief Justice of India) can request retired judges but cannot expand SC jurisdiction; Option B (President) cannot unilaterally expand the SC's jurisdiction; Option D (State Legislatures) have no power over the Supreme Court's jurisdiction — that is exclusively Parliament's domain.

Correct Answer: A. Review of judgments

• **Article 137 — Review of Judgments** = empowers the Supreme Court to review any judgment or order pronounced or made by it, subject to the laws made by Parliament and rules under Article 145. • **30-day limit** — a review petition must generally be filed within 30 days of the judgment; it is heard by the same bench that gave the original judgment, usually in chambers. • 💡 Option B (Seat of Supreme Court) is governed by Article 130; Option C (Appointment of Ad hoc judges) is under Article 127; Option D (Special Leave to Appeal) is under Article 136.

Correct Answer: B. Article 141

• **Article 141 — Binding law of SC** = the law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India (doctrine of precedent / Stare Decisis). • **SC not bound by itself** — the Supreme Court is not strictly bound by its own previous decisions; it can overrule them by a larger bench — unlike High Courts which are bound by SC precedents. • 💡 Option A (Article 140) empowers the SC to pass ancillary orders; Option C (Article 144) requires all civil/judicial authorities to act in aid of the SC; Option D (Article 142) grants the SC power to issue orders for 'complete justice.'

Correct Answer: A. Complete justice

• **Article 142 — Complete Justice** = empowers the Supreme Court to pass any decree or order necessary for doing 'complete justice' in any cause or matter pending before it. • **Enforceable throughout India** — decrees and orders under Article 142 are enforceable throughout India as prescribed by Parliament. • 💡 Option B (Speedy justice) is a goal of judicial administration but not the specific language of Article 142; Option C (Partial justice) is obviously not a constitutional objective; Option D (Administrative justice) refers to administrative law tribunals and is not the phrase used in Article 142.

Correct Answer: D. There is lack of quorum of permanent judges

• **Ad hoc judges — Lack of quorum** = under Article 127, ad hoc judges are appointed only when there is a lack of quorum of permanent judges to hold or continue a SC session. • **CJI + Presidential consent** — the Chief Justice of India, with prior consent of the President, can request a HC judge to act as an ad hoc judge in the SC. • 💡 Option A (The workload increases) is not the constitutional trigger — increased workload does not by itself warrant ad hoc appointment; Option B (There is a permanent vacancy) triggers a regular appointment process, not an ad hoc one; Option C (The President desires) is not how ad hoc appointments are initiated — it is the CJI who requests.

Correct Answer: B. Chief Justice of India

• **Article 128 — Retired judges in SC** = the Chief Justice of India can request a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge to act as a SC judge temporarily, with prior consent of both the President and the person. • **Double consent required** — both the President's prior consent AND the retired judge's personal consent are mandatory; neither alone suffices under Article 128. • 💡 Option A (Law Minister) has no constitutional authority to request retired judges to serve on the SC; Option C (President) gives consent but does not initiate the request — the CJI initiates; Option D (Prime Minister) has no role in this specific judicial mechanism under Article 128.