Current Affairs Question - 08 April 2020

Explanation :

• Article 142 provides for the enforcement of decrees and orders of Supreme Court.
• Article 142(1): It states that 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 the orders shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India.
• Article 142(2): It states that Supreme Court shall have the power to make any order for the purpose of (a) securing the attendance of any person, (b) the discovery or production of any documents or (c) the investigation or punishment of any contempt of itself.

Article 142 Used Earlier

• In November, 2019, it was also used during the Ayodhya judgment, making the first such case where it was invoked for a civil dispute over an immovable property that involved private parties.
• To cancel allocation of coal blocks granted from 1993 onwards without any specific finding.
• For restoring the white marble of the Taj Mahal
• To probe the 2013 Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal
• To provide relief to the thousands of people affected by the Bhopal gas tragedy.

Explanation :

• Mahavir Swami was born to King Siddhartha of Kundagrama and Queen Trishala, a Lichchhavi princess in the year 540 BC in the Vajji kingdom, identical with modern day Vaishali in Bihar.
• He belonged to the Ikshvaku dynasty.
• Also known as Vardhamana, he was the 24th tirthankara of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of 23rd tirthankara Parshvanatha.
• Mahavira practiced intense meditation and severe austerities for 12 years, after which he is believed to have attained Kevala Jnana (omniscience).
• He taught that observance of the vows of ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (chastity), and aparigraha (non-attachment) are necessary for spiritual liberation.
• He taught the principles of Anekantavada (many-sided reality): syadvada and nayavada.
• Mahavira's teachings were compiled by Indrabhuti Gautama (his chief disciple) as the Jain Agamas.