Original Jurisdiction

Original jurisdiction refers to cases that the Supreme Court can consider directly — without the case first passing through any lower court. In any federal country, legal disputes are bound to arise both between the Union and the States, and among the States themselves; someone has to be the umpire in those disputes, and the Constitution gives that job to the Supreme Court.

It is called "original" precisely because the Supreme Court, and only the Supreme Court, has the power to hear such cases — neither the High Courts nor any lower court can touch them. When exercising this jurisdiction, the Court is doing more than just resolving a quarrel between governments: it is interpreting the very powers the Constitution has assigned to the Union and to the States, whi …