| Ajay Hasia v Khalid Mujib | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | Supreme Court of India |
| Full case name | Ajay Hasia and Ors v Khalid Mujib Sehravardi and Ors |
| Decided | 1978 |
| Citation(s) | (1981) 1 SCC 722; AIR 1981 SC 487 |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Y. V. Chandrachud (Chief Justice), V. R. Krishna Iyer, P. N. Bhagwati, S. Murtaza Fazal Ali, A. D. Koshal |
| Case opinions | |
| If an individual, company, or society is acting as an instrumentality or agency of the government, it can be considered a State for the purposes of Article 12 of the Constitution of India, and a writ can lie against them for violating the Constitution. | |
| Decision by | P. N. Bhagwati |
Ajay Hasia v Khalid Mujib, (1981) 1 SCC 722, was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of India in which the Court laid down a test to determine whether an individual, corporation, or society was an instrumentality or agency of the government, and therefore whether it could be considered a State for the purposes of Article 12 of the Constitution of India. [1] If a body is 'State' for the purposes of Article 12, a writ can lie against them for violating the Constitution. [1]: 29 The judgment of the Court, delivered by Justice P. N. Bhagwati, was largely a summarization of Bhagwati's view in R. D. Shetty v International Airport Authority of India. Ajay Hasia summarized International Airport Authority into a six-factor test to determine whether a body was an instrumentality of agency of the State. [1]: 29
Judgment
Justice P. N. Bhagwati delivered the judgment of the Court. [1]: 29 The most influential portion of the judgment is the summarized six-factor test and largely the reason why it is often cited over the International Airport Authority case, a previous judgment by Justice Bhagwati. The six factors were: [2]
- Whether the share-capital of the corporation is held by the Government
- Whether the financial assistance of the State meets almost the entire expenditure of the corporation
- Whether the corporation enjoys a state-conferred or state-protected monopoly status
- Whether there is deep and pervasive state control
- Whether the functions of the corporation are of public importance and closely related to Governmental functions
- Whether a department of Government has been transferred to a corporation