LANDMARK CASE

Ajay Hasia v. Khalid Mujib Sehravardi

(1981) 1 SCC 722 · Supreme Court of India · Constitutional law

At a glance

Citation: (1981) 1 SCC 722
Court: Supreme Court of India
Area of law: Constitutional law
In one line: The Court laid down tests for 'State', such as government funding and control, and found the society to be State.

1 Facts

Admissions to an engineering college run by a society were challenged as arbitrary.

2 Issue

When is a body an instrumentality of the state under Article 12?

3 What the court decided

The Court laid down tests for 'State', such as government funding and control, and found the society to be State.

4 Why it matters

These tests still decide whether fundamental rights apply to a body.

5 Think about it

Apply the Ajay Hasia tests to a modern public sector company.

6 Analyse it yourself

Read the full judgment from an official source or a law database, then brief it in seven steps: facts, issues, arguments, decision, ratio, obiter and significance. Always check the citation before you rely on it.

7 More cases on Constitutional law

A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras AIR 1950 SC 27
ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (1976) 2 SCC 521
Air India v. Nergesh Meerza (1981) 4 SCC 335
Anuj Garg v. Hotel Association of India (2008) 3 SCC 1
Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020) 3 SCC 637
Ashoka Kumar Thakur v. Union of India (2008) 6 SCC 1

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