Many think that anyone can directly approach the Supreme Court for any matter whatsoever, but the reality is quite different. The reality is that the Supreme Court’s direct authority under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution is confined solely to the area of infringement of Fundamental Rights.

Article 32 is a special clause in the Constitution. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar referred to it as the “heart and soul of the Constitution” because it assures the right to constitutional remedies. To put it simply, any person whose Fundamental Rights as defined in Part III of the Constitution are infringed can take the case straight to the Supreme Court for the enforcement of the right. 

While the scope of Article 32 is vast, it is not without limits. The Supreme Court has maintained that the article is not applicable in the cases of civil matters, contract disputes, service disputes, property disputes, or trivial statutory violations unless they also involve the infringement of Fundamental Rights. 

The Constitution lays down a hierarchy of courts, with the lower courts and the High Courts being the first to resolve the matter. The High Courts, under Article 226, have a much more extensive power. Their powers to issue writs are not limited to the enforcement of Fundamental Rights but also include the other reasons, which are legal and statutory rights. Article 32 is a Fundamental Right in itself, but Article 226 is a constitutional power that is discretionary and wider in range.

Another crucial point is that the Article 32 is not granting a right to appeal for reasoned deliberation over disputed facts which need detailed proofs, thus leaving such issues to the inferior courts. The Supreme Court, while dealing with cases under Article 32, takes only constitutional infringements as the reason to intervene and not the disputes on facts.

To summarize, the Supreme Court is the ultimate defender of the Constitution; however, it is not an initial instance court for every conflict.