Constitution Section 300 — Suits and proceedings

Part XII — FINANCE, PROPERTY, CONTRACTS AND SUITS — CHAPTER III.—PROPERTY, CONTRACTS, RIGHTS, LIABILITIES,

Constitutional

Summary

The central government can file a lawsuit or be sued under the name "Union of India," and a state government can file a lawsuit or be sued under the name of that state. They can sue or be sued in the same types of situations as the former Dominion of India and its provinces or Indian states could have, unless a law made by Parliament or the state legislature says otherwise. If any court case was already going on when this Constitution came into effect, the Union of India automatically takes the place of the Dominion of India in that case, and the corresponding state takes the place of the former province or Indian state.

Official Text

(1) The Government of India may sue or be sued by the name of the Union of India and the Government of a State may sue or be sued by the name of the State and may, subject to any provisions which may be made by Act of Parliament or of the Legislature of such State enacted by virtue of powers conferred by this Constitution, sue or be sued in relation to their respective affairs in the like cases as the Dominion of India and the corresponding Provinces or the corresponding Indian States might have sued or been sued if this Constitution had not been enacted.

(2) If at the commencement of this Constitution—

(a) any legal proceedings are pending to which the Dominion of India is a party, the Union of India shall be deemed to be substituted for the Dominion in those proceedings; and

(b) any legal proceedings are pending to which a Province or an Indian State is a party, the corresponding State shall be deemed to be substituted for the Province or the Indian State in those proceedings.