Existing institutional architecture of India federalism in settling inter-state disputes

♤ Article 131 confers upon Supreme Court of India exclusive jurisdiction to deal with disputes between two or more States.

♤ Using Article 262, Parliament enacted the Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956 (IRWD Act) for adjudication of any dispute with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, in any inter-State river or river valley.

♤ Further, under Article 136 {Special Leave Petition}, Supreme Court, in its discretion, may grant special leave to appeal from any judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order in any cause or matter passed or made by any court or tribunal in the territory of India. It has been used to resolve the grievances of the states.

♤ Other institutional setup in this regard are Inter-State Council set up under Article 263, Zonal Councils to discuss matters of common concerns to states in each zone and Finance Commission providing framework for the distribution of taxes between different states.