State Liability in Tort & Contract — KSLU Constitutional Law 2 Notes

State Liability in Tort & Contract

• Contract (Art. 299): a government contract binds the State only if made in the name of the President/Governor and executed by an authorised person in the prescribed form; otherwise it is void — though the State must make restitution (Art. 299/§70 Contract Act) for benefits actually received.
• Tort (Art. 300): the State is liable for the torts of its servants in non-sovereign functions (State of Rajasthan v. Vidyawati, 1962) but historically not for sovereign functions (Kasturilal v. State of U.P., 1965). The modern constitutional-tort cases (Nilabati Behera v. State of Orissa, 1993) have largely overtaken that immunity by awarding compensation under Arts. 32/226 for violations of fundamental rights, regardless of the sovereign/non-sovereign label.