Скачать или смотреть Rights and Liabilities of the Government: Property, Contracts, and Suits (Articles 294-300)

Rights and Liabilities of Government, Article 300 Suits, Sovereign Immunity Doctrine, Escheat Bona Vacantia, Article 361 Immunities, Territorial Waters, Exclusive Economic Zone, Government Contractual Liability, Tortious Liability India, Part XII Constitution.


This chapter provides a comprehensive analysis of the Rights and Liabilities of the Government (Union and States) as legal entities (juristic persons), covered in Part XII (Articles 294 to 300) of the Constitution. It details the rules regarding Succession of pre-Constitution assets, and the vesting of property via Escheat, Lapse, and Bona Vacantia. Crucially, it establishes that all Sea-Wealth (minerals, lands) within the Territorial Waters ($12\text{ nautical miles}$) and the Exclusive Economic Zone ($200\text{ nautical miles}$) vests exclusively in the Union Government.

The article then examines the legal aspect of Suits By or Against the Government (Article 300), noting that the government is suable in its name (Union of India or name of the State). The discussion focuses intensely on the Government's Liability:

Contractual Liability: Contracts must comply with strict mandatory conditions (expressed in the name of the President/Governor, executed on their behalf – Article 299), though the government (not the official) remains contractually liable.

Tortious Liability: It traces the historical Sovereign Immunity doctrine (King can do no wrong) established in the P & O Steam Navigation Case (1861). The document highlights the Supreme Court's subsequent shift, particularly in the Nagendra Rao Case (1994) and the Common Cause Case (1999), which criticized and largely rejected the distinction between sovereign and non-sovereign functions, holding the State liable for the tortious acts of its employees in modern welfare state context.

Finally, it outlines the specific Immunities granted under Article 361: President and Governors enjoy absolute immunity from legal action (criminal or arrest) for their Official Acts during their tenure, and require two months' notice for civil proceedings concerning personal acts. Civil Servants are granted personal immunity for official contracts and for torts in respect of sovereign functions, but their immunity for torts/illegal acts is the same as any ordinary citizen.

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