'State' under Article 12 — KSLU Constitutional Law Notes

‘State’ under Article 12

Fundamental Rights are guarantees against the State — so if a government-funded body could violate rights and escape because it is not a “ministry,” the rights would be hollow. Article 12 therefore defines “the State” broadly to include the Government and Parliament of the Union, the Government and Legislature of each State, all local authorities, and “other authorities” within India or under the control of the Government of India.

“Other authorities” is the elastic phrase the courts keep widening:

flowchart TD
    A["'Other authorities' — Art. 12"]:::root
    A --> B["Rajasthan SEB (1967)<br/>statutory public bodies"]:::leaf
    A --> C["Ajay Hasia (1981)<br/>instrumentality / agency test"]:::leaf
    A --> D["Pradeep Kumar Biswas (2002)<br/>deep & pervasive control"]:::leaf
    A --> E["Zee Telefilms (2005)<br/>LIMIT: BCCI not State"]:::lim

    classDef root fill:#FFF8DC,stroke:#333,color:#000;
    classDef leaf fill:#E6F3FF,stroke:#1E3A8A,color:#000;
    classDef lim fill:#FFE6E6,stroke:#8A1E1E,color:#000;
    linkStyle default stroke:#888,stroke-width:1px;

The instrumentality/agency test (Ajay Hasia) asks whether a body is so controlled, financed and used by government — discharging public functions — that it is really an arm of the State. Pradeep Kumar Biswas refined this to deep and pervasive control; Zee Telefilms set the limit (the BCCI discharges public functions but is not “State”).