Article 12 And State Action Doctrine: Implications For Digital Surveillance And Privacy
- IJLLR Journal
- May 28
- 2 min read
Akanksha Suryawanshi, Symbiosis Law School, Noida
Introduction-
The concept of state has been briefed in article 12 of the Indian constitution. The provision elaborates which institutions come within the ambit of state. It includes parliament of India, state legislatures, local authorities and other authorities coming within the control of government of India. The term ‘other authorities’ in this article has been a topic of discussion for several decades.1 But whichever private entities have an element of maximum state involvement, control and regulation it can be termed as state action. This is the doctrine of state action which is enshrined in the equal protection and due processes clause in USA’s Constitution.2 The private entities which have the majority of government involvement in any manner either by financial or administrative will be covered under the phrase ‘other authorities’ as per article 12.
When these authorities are in breach of the fundamental rights which are conferred by the state, they will be held liable just like state entities even when the consideration is regarding the right to privacy in terms of digital privacy and surveillance. This paper intends to study the interplay between Article 12, state action doctrine and its implication on digital surveillance and privacy. This paper has been written after holistic research on this topic. Secondary data, legislations and commentaries were used in analysing the subject.
Article 12 of the Indian constitution and state action doctrine-
Article 12 explains which of the authorities and Instrumentalities functioning within or out of the territory of India which can be called as a ‘state’. The list is not exhaustive but indicative which implies that there are authorities which come under the purview of the word ‘state’ if they satisfy the criteria set for them to qualify.
