Polity · 20 Aug 2026

Article 142 complete justice

Consider the following:

  1. Assertion (A): The Supreme Court invoked Article 142 of the Constitution to quash FIRs against an entire class of NEET-UG protesters rather than requiring case-by-case bail or individual quashing petitions.
  2. Reason (R): Article 142 empowers the Supreme Court to pass any order necessary for doing "complete justice" in a matter pending before it, a power broader in scope than what is available through ordinary criminal procedure.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above?

ABoth A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
BBoth A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
CA is true, but R is false
DA is false, but R is true
This question is based on: Why the Supreme Court Is Using Article 142, Not New Law, to Save NEET Protesters
Take this in full test mode → Instructions for 20 Aug 2026
About this question

Why in news

The Supreme Court used its Article 142 power to quash FIRs en masse against NEET-UG protesters after Delhi Police could not reliably separate genuine offenders from peaceful demonstrators at the July 20 march, despite flagging 2,873 persons with criminal antecedents at the site.

Why for UPSC

Article 142 is a recurring Prelims and Mains theme; UPSC often tests whether aspirants understand it as a residual constitutional remedy distinct from ordinary criminal procedure, not as a general substitute for statutory processes.

Prelims summary

Article 142 lets the Supreme Court pass any order needed for "complete justice" in a pending matter - used here for collective FIR-quashing because ordinary BNSS quashing petitions are individual and too slow for mass-protest situations.

On web, answers are shown once after a test — no save or reattempt. For unlimited reattempts, Hindi medium, and Mentor Observations, use the TAN App.