The essence of a federal Constitution is the division of governmental power between a Central Government and State Governments and this division is expressed in written words.

Since language is apt to be ambiguous, and its meaning may not be taken as the same by all at all times, it is certain that in any federation there will be disputes between the Centre and the units about the terms of the division of powers and the respective areas of their authority.

All such disputes are to be settled with reference to the Constitution which is the supreme law and which embodies the manner in which powers are divided between the Centre and the units. Justice demands, at the same time, that such conflicts should be settled by an independent and impartial authority.

A Supreme Court under a federal Constitution is one such and is, therefore, an essential part of a federal system. It is at once the highest interpreter of the Constitution and a tribunal for the final determination of disputes between the Union and its constituent units.

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This is one of the most important functions of the Supreme Court of India under the federal system established by the Constitution.

The Supreme Court of India, however, is more than a federal Supreme Court. For, as we have already seen, under Article 32, the Court is made the protector of all the Fundamental Rights embodied in the Constitution and it has to guard these rights jealously against every infringement at the hands of either the Union Government or the State Governments.

By declaring the significance and operation of these rights, from time to time, it protects the citizens from unconstitutional laws passed by the legislatures and arbitrary acts done by the administrative authorities.

The Supreme Court is also an all-India supreme appellate court having both criminal and civil jurisdictions. The Constitution invests the Court with extensive powers of reviewing the decisions of the courts below it in criminal as well as civil cases. In the process, it gets an opportunity to interpret not only the Constitution and the laws enacted by Parliament but also the laws passed by the various State legislatures.

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Further, the Supreme Court of India plays a unique role by giving its advice, from time to time, to the President of India on questions of law or fact which are of such a nature and of such public importance that the President refers them to the Court for its consideration and opinion. It is doubtful whether there is any other court of law to which has been assigned so much power under any Constitution.