The power of the Supreme Court of India to decide disputes between two or more…

Concept

A court's jurisdiction is classified by the route through which a matter reaches it.

A proceeding instituted in the court itself at the first instance, with no earlier adjudication anywhere, is heard in its original jurisdiction; a matter that arrives only after a lower court has already decided it is heard in appellate jurisdiction; and an opinion rendered on a reference, rather than on a decided dispute, is given in advisory jurisdiction.

Application

Article 131 of the Constitution of India confers on the Supreme Court exclusive power over federal disputes: between the Government of India and one or more States, and between two or more States, wherever the dispute involves a question of law or fact on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends.

Such a suit is instituted in the Supreme Court itself; no High Court or subordinate court hears it first. A dispute between two or more States therefore reaches the Court at the first instance, which is precisely what original jurisdiction means.

Cross-check

The other three heads of jurisdiction do not match the route by which such a dispute reaches the Court:

• Advisory Jurisdiction (Article 143) — the President makes a reference on a question of law or fact of public importance and the Court returns an opinion; no suit between States is instituted, and the opinion is not a binding decree.

• Appellate Jurisdiction (Articles 132 to 136) — presupposes a decision already delivered by a court or tribunal below, so it cannot be the route by which a dispute between States first enters the Court.

• Writ Jurisdiction (Article 32) — the issue of writs for the enforcement of fundamental rights, which are held by persons; it is not the head under which a dispute between States is decided.

Hence the power of the Supreme Court to decide disputes between two or more States falls under its Original Jurisdiction, conferred by Article 131.