Article 12 of the Indian Constitution

Article 12 of the Indian Constitution defines the meaning of the term “State” for the purposes of the Constitution. Article 12 states that “The ‘State’ includes the Government and Parliament of India and the Government and the Legislature of each of the States and all local and other authorities within the territory of India or under the control of the Government of India.”

Article 12 will be helpful for UPSC IAS Exam preparation. GS Paper-2 Polity & Governance.

Table of content

• Introduction
• Meaning of “State” mentioned in Article 12
• Terms mentioned in Article 12
• Whether Judiciary is a state or not?
• Conclusion
• Frequently asked question (FAQs)

What Article 12 of the Indian Constitution?

• Article 12 of the Indian Constitution defines the meaning of the term “State” for the purposes of the Constitution.
• The Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to the citizens of India. In the event, any fundamental right is violated or infringed the citizen can enforce his fundamental rights against the state. And the ambit of the word state has been explained in Article 12 of the Indian Constitution.

Meaning of “State” mentioned in Article 12

• The term “State” 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.
• It is defined under Art.12 of the Constitution for the purpose of Protection, Promotion and enforcement of fundamental rights as provided under Part III of our Constitution.
• The term “Government” includes a department of the government or any institution under the control of a department of the government.
• The definition of State in Art.12 is only applicable in the case of Part III (Fundamental Rights) and Part IV (Directive Principles of State Policy) and not applicable to other provisions of the Constitution.

Terms mentioned in Article 12

The Central/Union Government and Parliament:

• The Government/Union of India for the purpose of Art.12 includes the Executive organs and Department including the President of India.
• Parliament comprises of the President of India, the lower house of the parliament that is the Lok Sabha as well as the upper house of the Parliament, that is the Rajya Sabha.  

The State Governments and the State Legislatures:  

• The State Government includes the Executive organs and other Departments i.e., the Governments, the Chief Ministers, the District Collectors and other Government Departments.
• The State Legislative, which is a law-making body, includes the Governor and both houses like State Legislative Assembly and the State Legislative Council.  

The Local Authorities

• The expression “local authorities” usually refers to authorities such as municipalities, District Boards, Panchayats, mining settlement boards, etc.
• Anybody functioning under the state and is owned, controlled and managed by the “state” and carrying out a public function is a local authority and comes within the definition of the state.
• The Supreme Court in the case of Union of India v. R.C. Jain laid down the test for determining which bodies would be considered as a local authority under the definition of state enshrined under Article 12 of the constitution.
• Has a separate legal existence.
• Functions in a defined area.
• Has the power to raise funds on its own.
• Enjoys autonomy i.e., self-rule
• Is entrusted by statute with functions which are usually entrusted to municipalities, then such authorities would come under ‘local authorities’ and hence would be ‘state’ under Article 12 of the Constitution.

Other Authorities:

• The term ‘other authorities’ under Article 12 encompasses those authorities that do not fall within the first three categories.
• ‘Other Authorities’ though not defined in the constitution has been widely interpreted through various judgments and now includes a number of authorities under it.
• The court through various judgements laid down the following test to determine whether a body is included within ‘other authorities’ and comes within the definition of ‘state’:
• If an authority has the power to issue directions and any offense against them is punishable by law.
• Power to make rules that would have statutory effect.
• Received Extraordinary financial assistance by the State.
• Nature and extent of control of management and policies of the corporation by the state.
• Corporation enjoys a state-conferred or state-protected monopoly status.
• It is an agency or instrumentality of state for carrying out trade or business which otherwise would have been carried out by the state departments, such authorities would come within the purview of ‘other authorities’ and hence would be considered ‘state’.

Whether Judiciary is a state or not?

• Judiciary is not specifically mentioned under Art.12 of the Constitution on India.
• In a judgement the Supreme court of India concluded that ‘judiciary’ while exercising its power of rulemaking comes within the meaning of state, but while performing its judicial functions it does not cover within the meaning of the state.

Conclusion:

The Constitution of India not only gives a fundamental right to the citizens but also imposes the duty on the state to ensure that the fundamental rights are protected.

The court through its interpretations has widened the scope of the term State to include a variety of statutory and non-statutory bodies under its umbrella. The need to determine what falls within the meaning of state is, to assign the party on whom the duty to implement such right is placed upon

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Frequently Asked Questions