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Law Of Constitution project

On

Definition of state under article 12

Submitted to:
Dr. Ayaz Ahmad

Submitted by: Helik Soni

Student Details

Name : Helik Soni

Roll No : 1007al0027

Batch : 2020-2025

Section : A

Name : Yash Butaney

Roll No : 1007AL0092

Batch : 2020-2025

Section : A

Name : Het Patel

Roll No : 1007AL0029

Batch : 2020-2025

Section : A
 Table of contents
Table of contents ……………………………………………………………….3
Table of case laws ……………………………………………………………...4
Introduction……………………………………………………………………...5
Layman language……………………………………………………………….5
Legal explanation……………………………………………………………….6
Significant terms discussed under the article…………………………….6
Government……………………………………………………………………..7
Parliament………………………………………………………………………..7
State Legislature………………………………………………………………..7
Local authorities………………………………………………………………...7
Territory of India…………………………………………………………………9
Control Government……………………………………………………………9
Legislature……………………………………………………………………...10
Executive ……………………………………………………………………….10
Other authorities……………………………………………………………….11
Is judiciary a part of state…………………………………………………….11
Case laws……………………………………………………………………….12
Conclusions…………………………………………………………………….13
 Table of cases

Masthan sahib vs chief commissioner

Naresh Shridhar Mirajkar v. State of Maharashtra, AIR 1967 SC 1
University of Madras v. Shanta Bai
Ujjammabai v. the State of U.P.
Rajasthan Electricity Board v. Mohan Lal
 Introduction
Fundamental rights are a set of rights granted to all inhabitants of the country under Part III of
the Indian Constitution, and they apply to all citizens residing in the country, regardless of race,
place of birth, religion, caste, or gender. They are legally recognised as rights that require the
government to provide a high level of protection and cannot be violated by the government.
Individuals and private enterprises are not protected by fundamental rights. The government, the
state, or its authorities are responsible for safeguarding these rights.

The majority of citizens' fundamental rights are asserted against the government and its agents,
rather than private entities. The term "state" is given a new meaning in Article 12. It is critical to
ascertain which bodies fall under the concept of a state in order to decide who bears
accountability. The term "the State" were employed by the writers of the Constitution in a
broader sense than what is commonly recognised. It does not simply refer to the states that make
up the Union. The phrase "includes" in the article indicates that the definition is not exhaustive,
and the court has enlarged the scope of the Article by judicial interpretations much beyond what
the founders of Article 12 may have intended when the constitution was drafted.

Layman language explanation

To explain the definition of state on the basic terms for the purposes of Part 3 under the
constitution of India, the state is made up by following:

1. Government and Parliament of India i.e the Executive and Legislature of the Union.
2. Government and Legislature of each State i.e the Executive and Legislature of the various
States of India.
3. All local or other authorities within the territory of India.
4. All local and other authorities who are under the control of the Government of India1.

1 https://blog.ipleaders.in/state-article-12-constitution-india/
 Legal explanation

Article 12 of the Indian constitution defines the State which includes the Government and
Parliament of India and the Government and the Legislature of each of the States and all local or
other authorities within the territory of India or under the control of the Government of India.

The Fundamental rights given to the citizens act as a guarantee and the state is not allowed to go
against such Fundamental Rights. If the state violates the FR’s of the citizens, then that person
can sue the state. 2

Significant terms discussed under the article

1. Government
2. Parliament
3. State legislature
4. Local authorities
5. Territory of India
6. Control of the Government of India
7. Legislature
8. Executive
9. Other authorities

Government

The law-making or legislative branch and administrative or executive branch and law
enforcement or judicial branch and organizations of society. Lok Sabha (the lower house) and
Rajya Sabha (the upper house) form the legislative branch. Indian President is the head of the
state and exercises his or her power directly or through officers subordinate to him. The Supreme
2 https://lexforti.com/legal-news/article-12-definition-of-state/
Court, High Courts, and many civil, criminal and family courts at the district level form the
Judiciary.

Parliament

The President of India, the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, and the Rajya Sabha, the
upper house of parliament, make up the Indian parliament.

State legislature

The State Legislature is the legislative body at the state level. The state legislative assembly and
the state legislative council make up this body.

Local authorities

It is necessary to define Authorities before knowing what a local authority is.

According to Webster's Dictionary, "authority" refers to a person or body that has the ability to
order others.

When used in conjunction with Article 12, the term authority refers to the power to create laws
(or orders, rules, bye-laws, notifications, and so on) that have legal force.
It also involves the authority to enact and enforce those laws.

Local Authority: As per Section 3(31) of the General Clauses Act, 1897,

“Local Authority shall mean a municipal committee, district board, body of commissioner or
other authority legally entitled to or entrusted by the Government within the control or
3
management of a municipal and local fund”

3 https://blog.ipleaders.in/state-article-12-constitution-india/
Local authorities includes the below two types:

Local government- Local government includes a municipal corporation, improvement trust,

district boards, mining settlement authority, and other local authorities for the purpose of local
self-government or village administration, according to Entry 5 of List II of VII Schedule.

Village Panchayat- In the case of Ajit Singh v. State of Punjab, it was decided that village
panchayats are included in the definition of local authority.

The specifications of local authorities are as follows:

1. Enjoy a partial or complete degree of autonomy.

2. Functions in a defined area .
3. Be chosen entirely or partially, directly or indirectly, by the residents of the area
4. It can't just be a government agency; it has to be a legally separate entity.
5. Be entrusted with governmental activities and duties that are normally entrusted to local
governments by statute (like health, education, water, town planning, markets,
transportation, etc.)
6. As a corporate entity, you must have a separate legal existence.
7. Have the authority to levy taxes, rates, charges, or fees to raise cash for the advancement
of its activities and the achievement of its goals.

Territory Of India

In constitution of India, article 1(3) states that:

“The territory of India shall comprise- (a) the territories of the States;(b) the Union territories
specified in the First Schedule; and (c) such other territories as may be acquired.4”

In the case of Masthan Sahib v. Chief Commissioner, the court held that the territory of India for
the purposes of Article 12 means the territory of India as defined in Article 1(3).

4 https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1062009/
 Control of Government of India

The control of the government under Article 12 does not necessarily imply that the body is under
the government's complete control. It simply means that the government must have some kind of
influence over how the body functions. Just because something is a statutory body doesn't make
it a "state" body. Both statutory and non-statutory bodies can be deemed a "State" if they receive
financial resources from the government and are subject to extensive government oversight.

For example- State includes Delhi Transport Corporation, ONGC and Electricity Boards, but
does not include NCERT as neither is it substantially financed by the government nor is the
government’s control pervasive.

Because the test established in the case of Ajay Hasia is not rigorous, any body that comes within
it must be regarded a state within the meaning of Article 12.“Whether, in light of the cumulative
facts as proved, the entity is financially, operationally, and administratively dominated by or
under the control of Government,” was debated in the case. This type of control must be specific
to the body in issue and pervasive.

Legislature

The legislature is the branch of government that enacts the government's legislation. It is the
agency in charge of formulating the state's will and endowing it with legal authority and force.
Simply said, the legislature is the branch of government that creates laws. In every democratic
state, the legislature has a unique and vital role. It is the assembly of the people's elected
representatives, and it reflects national public opinion and power.
 Executive

It is the organ in charge of carrying out the legislature's laws as well as the government's
policies. The emergence of the welfare state has greatly expanded the state's and, in actuality, the
executive's tasks. In ordinary parlance, the executive is associated with the government. There
has been a change in modern times.

Other Authorities

Article 12 contains no definition for the term "other authorities." There is no such provision in
the Constitution, the General Clauses Act of 1897, or any other Indian statute. As a result, its
interpretation has been a source of contention, and judicial judgement has shifted over time.
Government functions can be carried out by government departments and staff or by autonomous
groups that exist outside of the departmental framework. Companies, corporations, and other
autonomous bodies are examples of such independent bodies. As a result, the judiciary has
issued multiple judgments based on the facts and circumstances of various cases in order to
determine what "other authorities" fall inside the scope of State.

Is judiciary a part of state

The term "judiciary" is not defined in Article 12 of the Constitution. This grants judicial
authorities the authority to make decisions that may be in violation of an individual's
fundamental rights. If it were included to the definition of ‘State,' then it would be a legal
obligation not to infringe people' fundamental rights, as stated in the article. As a result, the
courts' decisions cannot be challenged on the basis that they infringe a person's basic rights. On
the other hand, orders issued by courts in their administrative role (including the Supreme Court)
have been routinely challenged as being in violation of basic rights.

The division between the judicial and non-judicial activities of the courts provides the answer to
this question. The courts are included in the definition of the ‘State' when they exercise non-
judicial functions. When the courts carry out their judicial tasks, they are not considered to be
part of the ‘State.'

As a result, it should be underlined that a court's decision cannot be challenged as a violation of

fundamental rights. However, if circumstances support the claim, an administrative decision or
judicial rule might be challenged as violating fundamental rights. This is due to the courts'
division between judicial and non-judicial responsibilities.

A 9-judge bench of the Supreme Court held in Naresh Shridhar Mirajkar v. State of Maharashtra,
AIR 1967 SC 1, that a judicial decision pronounced by a judge of competent jurisdiction in or in
relation to a matter brought before him for adjudication cannot affect citizens' fundamental rights
because the judicial decision purports to resolve the controversy between the parties. As a result,
under Article 13, such a judicial decision cannot be contested.

Case laws
The Madras High Court developed the principle of ejusdem generis, or of like nature, in the case
of University of Madras v. Shanta Bai. It means that only those authorities that perform
governmental or sovereign functions are covered by the term "other authorities." Furthermore, it
cannot contain natural or legal persons, such as unaided universities.

The court in Ujjammabai v. the State of U.P. rejected the aforementioned narrow scope and
concluded that the ejusdem generis rule could not be used to interpret "other authorities." The
bodies listed in Article 12 do not have a common genus, thus they cannot be grouped together
logically.

Finally, in Rajasthan Electricity Board v. Mohan Lal, the Supreme Court concluded that the term
"other authorities" encompassed all authorities established by the constitution or statute and
given legal authority. It is not necessary for such statutory power to undertake government or
sovereign functions. The court highlighted that whether the power bestowed on the body is
commercial or not is irrelevant.5

Conclusions

The Indian Constitution not only grants citizens fundamental rights, but also makes it the state's
responsibility to ensure that such rights are respected. Through its interpretations, the court has
expanded the definition of "state" to include a number of statutory and non-statutory
organisations.

The requirement to identify what constitutes a state is to allocate the party who will be
responsible for carrying out such a right. Not only that, but the definition of state under Article
12 contains several words with ambiguous meanings, such as local authorities, government
control, other authorities, and so on, and as seen in the preceding sections, the courts have
described the scope of the article by establishing a test and debating the meaning of the terms.

5 https://blog.ipleaders.in/state-article-12-constitution-india/ paraphrased from the

mentioned site