RAS question
Which Article gives the Supreme Court exclusive original jurisdiction over Union-State disputes involving a question of law or fact on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends?
Correct answer: (A) Article 131.
Article 131 gives the Supreme Court exclusive original jurisdiction over specified disputes between the Government of India and States, and between States.
Explanation
Article 131 is the constitutional provision for the Supreme Court's exclusive original jurisdiction in federal disputes. The official Supreme Court judgment from sci.gov.in quotes Article 131 as giving the Court, to the exclusion of any other court, original jurisdiction in disputes 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. That is why a Union-State dispute goes directly to the Supreme Court under Article 131, provided the dispute involves a question of law or fact on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Article 132 concerns appellate jurisdiction in constitutional matters, so it is about appeals rather than the Supreme Court's original forum for Union-State disputes.
- (C) Article 136 deals with Special Leave Petitions, which is a discretionary appellate route and not the source of original jurisdiction between the Union and States.
- (D) Article 141 makes the law declared by the Supreme Court binding on all courts, but it does not create the Court's original jurisdiction over federal disputes.
Concept
This tests the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction in Indian federalism. RAS questions often compare Articles 131, 132, 136 and 141 because each assigns a different constitutional function to the Supreme Court.