BPSC 70th CCE Re-exam Prelims General Studies · Question 8 of 142

Correct — C, Original jurisdiction. Article 131 of the Constitution vests in the Supreme Court an EXCLUSIVE original jurisdiction over federal disputes: any dispute between the Government of India and one or more States, between the Government of India and any State or States on one side and one or more other States on the other, and between two or more States — provided the dispute involves a question of law or fact on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends. 'Original' means the case begins in the Supreme Court; it does not travel up from a subordinate court, and no other court in India may hear it at all, which is what the word 'exclusive' adds. A proviso limits the reach: the jurisdiction does not extend to disputes arising out of a pre-Constitution treaty, agreement, covenant or engagement that remains in operation, and it has been read as not covering matters expressly excluded elsewhere, such as inter-State water disputes, which Article 262 allows Parliament to place outside the courts — the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 does exactly that. Two further points are worth carrying. Article 131 is about the federal units themselves, so a private individual or company cannot bring a suit under it, and a dispute between the Union and a Union Territory does not qualify either, since a Union Territory is not a State. And the Court's writ jurisdiction under Article 32 — the one candidates meet first — is a different, concurrent original jurisdiction shared with the High Courts under Article 226. Federal disputes are the exclusive kind. This is also one of a handful of questions on this paper that a national commission has answered in print: UPSC asked it in almost identical words in 1996 and again in 2014, and its published key names ORIGINAL JURISDICTION both times. That corroborates the constitutional text; it is not this Commission's key, because BPSC published none for this paper.

• (a)Advisory jurisdiction — A real head of jurisdiction, but a different one. Under Article 143 the President may refer to the Supreme Court a question of law or fact of public importance, or a dispute arising out of a pre-Constitution treaty; the Court may give its opinion, and that opinion is not binding and is not a judgment. It is triggered only by a presidential reference, never by a State or by the Union suing the other — so it is advice, not the adjudication of a dispute.
• (b)Constitutional jurisdiction — The invented option, and the one that sounds most plausible because the subject matter is constitutional. The Constitution recognises no head of jurisdiction by this name. Its scheme divides the Supreme Court's powers into original (Articles 131 and 32), appellate (Articles 132 to 136), advisory (Article 143) and a set of special powers such as Article 142; 'constitutional jurisdiction' belongs to none of them.
• (d)Appellate jurisdiction — Covers Articles 132 to 136 — appeals from High Court judgments in constitutional, civil and criminal matters, plus the discretionary special leave to appeal under Article 136 from any court or tribunal. Every one of those begins somewhere else and comes up to the Supreme Court. A Centre–State dispute starts in the Supreme Court, so nothing is being appealed.

The Supreme Court's powers are grouped by how a case reaches it. Original jurisdiction means the case starts there. Two kinds exist: Article 131, the exclusive original jurisdiction over disputes between the Union and States or between States, and Article 32, the writ jurisdiction for enforcement of fundamental rights, which is original but shared with the High Courts under Article 226. Appellate jurisdiction, Articles 132 to 136, brings cases up from High Courts — on a substantial question of constitutional interpretation, in civil and criminal matters, and by special leave from any court or tribunal except a court martial. Advisory jurisdiction, Article 143, lets the President ask for an opinion. Alongside these sit Article 137, the power of review, and Article 142, the power to pass any order necessary for complete justice. Article 131 exists because a federation needs an umpire whose ruling neither level of government can dispute — the same logic that made the Federal Court of the Government of India Act 1935, which Article 131 succeeded, the first Indian court with federal jurisdiction.

The reasoning route is to ask a single question of each option: where does the case begin? Anything the Supreme Court hears because a High Court has already decided it is appellate. Anything it says because the President asked is advisory. Anything filed first in the Supreme Court itself is original — and a suit by a State against the Union has nowhere else to be filed, because no High Court has jurisdiction over the Union and another State at once. That reasoning also disposes of the invented fourth option without needing to know a list. Recent practice makes the article less academic than it looks: State governments have used Article 131 to sue the Union directly over central legislation, and the Court has heard argument on whether the constitutionality of a central law can itself be the subject of an Article 131 suit. The related caution for the exam is that this jurisdiction is about legal rights of the federal units — political grievances, and disputes brought by private parties, do not qualify.

• Article 131 gives the Supreme Court exclusive original jurisdiction over disputes between the Government of India and one or more States, between the Union with any States on one side and other States on the other, and between two or more States, where a question of legal right is involved.
• The proviso to Article 131 excludes disputes arising from a pre-Constitution treaty, agreement, covenant, engagement, sanad or similar instrument that remains in operation.
• Inter-State river water disputes are kept out of this route by Article 262 read with the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, which provides for tribunals instead.
• The Supreme Court's other original jurisdiction is Article 32, the writ jurisdiction for fundamental rights — concurrent with the High Courts under Article 226, not exclusive.
• Appellate jurisdiction runs from Articles 132 to 136, advisory jurisdiction from Article 143; the Court also has review under Article 137 and the complete-justice power under Article 142.

• Reading 'original jurisdiction' as meaning only the writ jurisdiction under Article 32. Article 32 is original but concurrent; Article 131 is original and exclusive.
• Assuming any dispute involving a State qualifies under Article 131. A private party cannot invoke it, a Union Territory is not a State for its purposes, and inter-State water disputes are routed to tribunals instead.
• Being drawn to 'constitutional jurisdiction' because the subject is constitutional. No such head exists in the Constitution's scheme.

BPSC asks the classification directly — name the head of jurisdiction — and expects the answer in seconds. UPSC has asked this exact stem twice, in 1996 and 2014, but its harder version breaks Article 131 into a statement list and asks which disputes actually fall inside it, which is where Union Territories and election disputes become the discriminators. Prepare the article, not just the label.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following disputes can be brought before the Supreme Court of India under Article 131 ?

  • (a)A dispute between the Government of India and a Union Territory
  • (b)A dispute between two or more States
  • (c)A dispute between a private company and a State Government
  • (d)A dispute regarding the election of a member of a State Legislative Assembly

  Answer(b) A dispute between two or more States — Article 131 covers the Union and the States as federal units only. A Union Territory is not a State for this purpose, private parties cannot invoke it, and election disputes go to the High Courts under the Representation of the People Act.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under which Article of the Constitution may the President of India seek the opinion of the Supreme Court on a question of law or fact of public importance ?

  • (a)Article 131
  • (b)Article 136
  • (c)Article 143
  • (d)Article 142

  Answer(c) Article 143 — the advisory jurisdiction. The opinion given is not binding on the President, unlike a judgment delivered in the Court's original or appellate jurisdiction.