The Airport Authority of India Case: Public Corporations and the Fundamental Rights

Abstract

The Fundamental Rights, guaranteed by the Constitution of India, are very substantive rights. The rights, however, are available only against the ‘state’ as defined in Article 12 of the Constitution. The definition of ‘state’ includes the Union and States legislatures and executive. The meaning of these terms is clear and definite. The last entry in the definition is ‘other authorities’. The term has been subject to judicial interpretations. The Airport Authority of India Case[1] is a founding landmark judgement expanding the scope of ‘other authorities’. It formulated that a public corporation, which is an instrumentality or agency of the government, should be taken to be ‘other authority’.