Defination of State

II. Definition of "the State" under article 12: Scope and Ambit

There are three aspects of article 12 which require to be particularly noticed. They are:

i. The definition given in article 12 is not an explanatory and restrictivedefinition but an extensive definition.

ii. It is definition of the expression "the State" and not of term "state" or "states" and

iii. t is inserted in the Constitution for the purposes of part III and IVthereof.

Importance of the definition of "the State":- Article 12 makes it clear that the fundamental rights guaranteed by part III of the Constitution shall be enforceable against an individual or authority only if it is comes within the definition in article 12. Under the concept unlike the other legal rights, which are the creation of the State, the fundamental rights are claimed against the State. Therefore, whether a Constitution says it or not, it is generally assumed that the fundamental rights given in it are available only against the State, i.e. against the actions of the State and its officials. For this reason the Constitution of the United States, first amongst the modern written constitutions to provide for the fundamental rights, applied those rights only to state action even though the Constitution does not say so. The same conception has played a role in the application of the fundamental rights in our Constitution though some of them are, expressly applicable to non-state action and some others are not expressly confined to state action.

In one of its early decisions, P.D. Shamdasani v. Central Bank of India Ltd.1, the Supreme Court confined this position. In that case the petitioner sought the protection of the court to enforce his rights in Articles 19(1) (f) and 31 against the Central Bank of India Ltd. The court dismissed the petition and said; "The language and structure of article 19 and its setting in part III of the Constitution clearly show that the article was intended to protect those freedoms against the state action.... Violation of rights of property by individuals is not within the purview of the article." In another case2, Patanjali Sastri, C.J. said: "The whole object of part III of the Constitution is to provide protection for the freedoms and rights mentioned therein against arbitrary invasion by the State."