Q. “The exclusive original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court extends to the disputes which involve a question, whether of law or fact, on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends.” In this context, consider the following matters:
1. A dispute arising out of any preConstitution treaty or agreement.
2. Any dispute between two or more states.
3. A dispute between the Centre and any of the states.
4. Matters referred to the finance commission.
In how many of the above matters does the Supreme Court enjoy exclusive original jurisdiction?
Exp) Option d is the correct answer
Article 131 of the constitution of India deals with the original jurisdiction of the Supreme court.
Option 1 is incorrect: Exclusive Original jurisdiction (or even Original Jurisdiction) of the Supreme Court does not extend to a dispute arising out of any pre-Constitution treaty or agreement. In fact, disputes arising out of preconstitution treaties belong to an advisory jurisdiction (Article 143) of the Supreme court.
Option 2 is correct: It is true that a dispute between two or more states is the exclusive original jurisdiction of the Supreme court, which means that such cases cannot be heard by the High court.
Option 3 is correct: A dispute between centre and any state on any matter comes under the exclusive original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
Option 4 is incorrect: Original jurisdiction of the Supreme court does not extend to cover matters referred to the Finance Commission. The Finance Commissions are constituted by the President of India under Article 280 of the Indian Constitution to define the financial relations between the Centre and state governments.
