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On May 18, 2022, the Supreme Court ordered the release of one of the seven convicts in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, AG Perarivalan. For this, the Supreme Court exercised its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution. At the time of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991, Perarivalan was 19 years old and had been in jail for 31 years. In 1991 he was arrested for buying batteries, which were used to trigger the belt bomb that killed the former prime minister.

What is Article 142 of the Constitution?

• The Supreme Court uses Article 142 to exercise its special powers in any matter or matter pending before it to do “complete justice”. This article states “The Supreme Court may, in the exercise of its jurisdiction, pass such decree or make such order as may be necessary to do full justice in any matter or matter pending before it.”
• The top court also cited the inordinate delay in pardoning Perarivalan by the governor. In the year 2018, the Tamil Nadu government had recommended to the then Governor Banwarilal Purohit that all the seven convicts be released under Article 161 of the Constitution. The governor, however, deferred the recommendation of the state for months before sending it to the President under Article 161, which allows the governor to decide on Perarivalan’s release. Article 161 states, “The Governor of a State shall have the power to waive, grant, relieve or remit the sentence of any person convicted of any offense against any law relating to any matter” and shall have the power to suspend or reduce the punishment.”

When did the Supreme Court use Article 142?

The apex court had exercised its power under Article 142 in several cases including the 1989 Union Carbide case and the 2019 Ayodhya Ram temple verdict. The court ordered the US-based Union Carbide Corporation to pay $470 million in compensation to the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy. In the Ram Mandir verdict, the Supreme Court refused the division of the land and instead handed over the 2.77-acre disputed area to the Hindus. Sensing the injustice meted out to Muslims, the apex court directed the Center to allot 5 acres of land in an alternate site within the ambit of the land acquired by the government. Article 142 gives unlimited power to the Supreme Court to do complete justice in cases where injustice has been caused to the litigants in the course of the proceedings. According to Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava, “The Supreme Court shall exercise these powers and shall not be barred from doing justice by any rule or provision of law, executive exercise or executive circular or regulation.”