Which of the following authorities has the exclusive power to establish a…

Under the Indian Constitution, each State ordinarily has its own High Court under Article 214, but Article 231 creates a specific exception: Parliament may, by law, establish a single High Court common to two or more States, or to two or more States and a Union Territory. This particular law-making power to create a shared High Court across State boundaries is reserved exclusively to Parliament.

The question asks which authority holds this exclusive power. Applying Article 231 directly: only Parliament can enact a law establishing a High Court common to two or more States; no other constitutional authority listed here is vested with this specific law-making function.

• The President of India: head of the Union Executive; appoints judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts under Articles 124 and 217, but does not enact laws restructuring the High Court system.

• The Supreme Court of India: functions as the apex court, exercising original jurisdiction under Article 131, appellate jurisdiction under Articles 132 to 136, and advisory jurisdiction under Article 143, but has no legislative role over High Court structure.

• The State Legislature concerned: makes laws on subjects in the State List under Article 246, but Article 245 confines that law-making power to matters within its own State's territory; it cannot bind another State to a shared High Court.

This matches established practice: the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Gauhati High Court (serving several North-Eastern States) were both created by Acts of Parliament under Article 231, not by presidential order or a State Assembly resolution. Hence, the answer is the Parliament of India.