Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other as Reason (R). Assertion (A) :The Supreme Court of India has exclusive jurisdiction regarding Constitutional validity of Central laws. Reason (R) :The Supreme Court is the Guardian of the Indian Constitution. Select the correct answer from the codes given below:

The correct answer is D. Assertion (A) is false and Reason (R) is true.

Why A is false: The Supreme Court does not have exclusive jurisdiction over the constitutional validity of Central laws. Under Article 32 the Supreme Court can hear writ petitions for enforcing Fundamental Rights, but Article 226 gives every High Court the same power to issue writs for any purpose, including challenging a Union law. So High Courts can also test Central laws. The Supreme Court's exclusive original jurisdiction under Article 131 covers disputes between the Centre and States or between States, not constitutional validity in general.

Why R is true: The Supreme Court is widely described as the guardian of the Constitution because it has the final word on interpretation and exercises judicial review (Articles 124 to 147, with Article 137 and Article 145 supporting its powers). Its rulings, such as in Kesavananda Bharati (1973) on the basic structure, establish this role.

Core concept: Judicial review, the basic structure doctrine and the division of writ jurisdiction between Articles 32 and 226. This links to Mains GS-II on the role of the judiciary and the federal balance of power.

Trap: Many aspirants read "Supreme Court is guardian" as "exclusive jurisdiction" and mark A as true. Always check whether the word "exclusive" is actually justified by the Constitution.