SUITS BY OR AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT‌

Article 300 of the Constitution deals with the suits by or against the Government in India. It lays down that the Government of India may sue or be sued by the name of the Union of India and government of a state may sue or be sued by the name of that state, eg, State of Andhra Pradesh or State of Uttar Pradesh and so on. Thus, the Union of India and states are legal entities (juristic personalities) for purposes of suits and proceedings, not the Government of the Union or government of states.

Regarding the extent of the governmental liability, the Constitution (Article 300) declares that the Union of India or states can sue or be sued in relation to their respective affairs in the like cases as the dominion of India and the corresponding provinces or Indian states might have sued or been sued before the Constitution. This provision is subject to any law made by Parliament or a state legislature. But, no such law has been enacted so far. Hence, at present, the position in this respect remains the same as it existed before the Constitution. In the pre- Constitution period (i.e., from the days of the East India Company up to the commencement of the Constitution in 1950), the government was suable for contracts but not for torts (wrongs committed by its servants) in respect of its sovereign functions. This is explained in detail as follows: