With reference to Indian Judiciary, consider the following statements: 1. Any retired judge of the Supreme Court of India can be called back to sit and act as a Supreme Court judge by the Chief Justice of India with prior permission of the President of India. 2. A High Court in India has the power to review its own judgement as the Supreme Court does. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Explanation
Statement 1 is Correct: Under Article 128, the Chief Justice of India may, at any time, with the previous consent of the President, request a retired Judge of the Supreme Court or a duly qualified retired Judge of a High Court to sit and act as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
Statement 2 is Incorrect: The Supreme Court derives its explicit power of review from Article 137 of the Constitution. High Courts have no equivalent explicit constitutional provision granting them review powers. While High Courts, being Courts of Record under Article 215, possess certain inherent powers, their power of review is neither equivalent in source nor in scope to the Supreme Court's review power under Article 137. This distinction was the basis of the official UPSC Answer Key for Prelims 2021, which confirmed Option (A) as correct.