RAS question
Article 141 states that:
Correct answer: (C) The law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within India.
Article 141 of the Constitution of India states that the law declared by the Supreme Court is binding on all courts within the territory of India.
Explanation
Article 141 says that the law declared by the Supreme Court shall bind all courts within India's territory. That is why option C is the precise statement: the provision is about the precedential force of Supreme Court law, not about review, Parliament, or a general hierarchy of courts. In the exam explanation's terms, this makes the Supreme Court the final interpreter of the Constitution and gives its decisions the status of precedents for Indian courts. The official Constitution text uses the same narrow formula, "law declared by the Supreme Court" and "all courts within the territory of India", so the answer turns on those exact words.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Article 141 is about the binding effect of Supreme Court-declared law on courts, not about the Supreme Court reviewing its own judgments.
- (B) The provision binds courts to the law declared by the Supreme Court; it does not state a rule about Parliament overriding or not overriding Supreme Court judgments.
- (D) Article 141 speaks of the law declared by the Supreme Court being binding on courts, not a blanket statement that all courts are subordinate to the Supreme Court.
Concept
This tests the Constitution's doctrine of precedent through Article 141. It recurs in RAS because questions on the Supreme Court often turn on the exact constitutional function: interpretation, binding precedent, review, or hierarchy.