<p><span>The powers of the Union and State Governments stands stipulated, distributed and limited by the Constitution. Consequently, the States and the Union on the one hand must act collectively and on the other hand, independently in their spheres, but in accordance with the rule of law. In a set up like this, there is possibility for eruption of differences or non-cooperation between the Union and State Governments, which may eventually lead to a dispute. Such disputes may relate to any matters of administration and in particular, pertaining to<i>&nbsp;</i>allocation of powers, constitutionality of actions, distribution of resources, or interpretation of constitutional provisions, questions concerning legal rights or such allied matters. Nevertheless, any such dispute between the Centre and the States must be resolved at the earliest not only to avoid the breakdown of federal fabric but also to carry out administration in accordance with Constitution and the laws.&nbsp;</span></p><span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;To facilitate this, the Constitution under Article 131 permits the State(s) and the Union Government to approach the Supreme Court that has exclusive ordinary original civil jurisdiction in such disputes, for redressal of the same. Indeed, there is plethora of circumstances in which the Supreme Court has exercised its exclusive original jurisdiction in such matters. The Constitution of India in addition has empowered the Supreme Court to hear special original jurisdiction under Article 71 and special extraordinary original writ jurisdiction under Article 32. Therefore, Prof. M.P. Jain has opined that the Supreme Court is a multi-jurisdictional Court that may be regarded as the most powerful apex court amongst all the functional courts.<a rel="nofollow">^{^{<span>[1]</span>}}</a>&nbsp;Since it is necessary for the students and lawyers of constitutional law to understand the contours of this jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, this article attempts to deal with the exclusive ordinary original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in the light of constitutional provisions and judicial pronouncements</span><span></span> <div> <br> <div> <p><a rel="nofollow">^{^{<span>[1]</span>}}</a><span>&nbsp;The Constitution confers broad jurisdiction on the court, which may be put under the following heads: “(I) The Court has power to commit a person for its contempt [Art. 129] (II) the Court has original jurisdiction to decide inter-governmental disputes [Art. 131] (III) the Court has appellate jurisdiction. It is the highest court of appeal in the country in all matters, civil or criminal [Arts. 132 to 134] (IV) the Court has a very extensive appellate jurisdiction under Art. 136 from any court or tribunal in the country in matters not falling under heading (iii). (V) the apex court has power under Art. 32 to enforce Fundamental Rights [Art. 32] (VI) the court has advisory jurisdiction [Art.143] (VII) the court has the power to review its own decisions [Art. 137] (VIII) the court has power to make any orders necessary for doing complete justice in any case [Art.142]”… See Prof. M.P. Jain,&nbsp;<i>Indian Constitutional Law</i>, (Nagpur: Wadhwa &amp; Company, Reprint 2005)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;pp. 203-204</span></p> </div> </div>