The power of the Supreme Court of India to decide disputes between the Centre and the State falls under its

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

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.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) 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) 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) 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.

Concept: 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.

State PCS 2025 Q8 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

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