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VOLUME 1                                                  SPRING 2021                                                 ISSUE 2

The Syin & Sern Law Review

RESEARCH ARTICLE

SOVEREIGN IMMUNITIES AND SOVEREIGN FUNCTIONS AS EXCEPTION TO DICEY'S RULE OF LAW: THE JOURNEY IN INDIA

Kalyani Rathi*

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DOI

https://doi-ds.org/doilink/06.2021-22378315/SYIN & SERN/V1/I2/A3

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Abstract

India has witnessed an evolution in its approach towards the application of sovereign immunity in the country. The British Rule may have brought with it these common law principles, but they certainly did not find their existence with that of the British. One of such principles is the principle of Sovereign immunity. Throughout the paper, the author has primarily focused on two questions: being a country governed solely by common law for over 200 years, how has the concept of no-sovereign-immunity been established in India and second, whether if today, the sovereign status of the Government of India is superior to the constitutionally acknowledged Rule of Law when practically applied.

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With varying judgments, legislative opinions, and the absence of a codified, settled law on the grant of sovereign immunity to the Government of India, this paper aims to put forth the practical and literal sustainability of both the doctrines of Sovereign Immunity and Dicey’s Rule of Law, coherently in India. The intrinsic aim of the paper is to analyze the trend of all landmark judgments (pre-independence and post-independence) and ascertain the stand of the Indian Judiciary regarding the practical application of the Doctrine of Sovereign Immunities and Dicey's Rule of Law, simultaneously.

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Referred Citations

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  1. M.P. Jain and S.N. Jain, Principles of Administrative Law (8th ed. 2017) 15.

  2. id.

  3. George W. Pugh, Historical Approach to the Doctrine of Sovereign Immunity, 13 Louisiana Law Review 3 (1953).

  4. M.P.Jain, Indian Legal and Constitutional History (4th edn, Lexis Nexis, 1981) 10.

  5. id.

  6. Drew Desilver, Despite Global Concerns About Democracy, More Than Half of Countries Are Democratic, Factank (Apr. 22, 2021) https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/05/14/more-than-half-of-countries-are-democratic/.

  7. A.V. Dicey, The Law of the Constitution (1 edn., Oxford, 2013).

  8. id.

  9. M.P. Jain, supra note 1, at 779-780.

  10. id.

  11. India Const. art. 14.

  12. L&L Partners, Sovereign Immunity in India, Lexology (Nov. 18, 2020) https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=5521ec58-6c1c-4577-a285-abed6baae0b4#:~:text=Section%2086(1)%20provides%20that,foreign%20states%20from%20the%20jurisdiction 

  13. India Const. art. 300.

  14. Civil Procedure Code, § 86, (1906).

  15. id at cl. 2.

  16. Rostock v. Jute Mills Co., 1 SCC 282 (1994).

  17. L&L Part.ners, supra note 12.

  18. Diplomatic Relations (Vienna Convention) Act (1972).

  19. Kasani v. United Arab Republic, 1 SCR 319 (1966).

  20. Nikhil Jain, Sovereign Immunity, Academike (Nov. 21, 2020) https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/sovereign-immunity/.

  21. India Const. art. 13 cl. 1.

  22. India Const. art. 21.

  23. India Const., supra note 11.

  24. Morley's Digest of Indian Cases, (1850).

  25. Francis Williams, Fifty years March: The Rise of the Labour Part.y (Odhams Press, 1949) 118.

  26. id.

  27. Nikhil, supra note 20.

  28. M.P.Jain, supra note 1, at 764,765.

  29. The Government of India Act (1935).

  30. Navigation Co. v. Secretary of State for India, 5 BHCR (1861).

  31. id.

  32. Secretary of State v. Bhanil, 5 ILR (1882).

  33. id.

  34. State of Andhra Pradesh v. Pinise, 1 ALT 242, (1993).

  35. Hasia v. Mujib, 2 SCR 79 (1981).

  36. Biswas v. Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Civil App 992 (2002).

  37. Prasad v. Secretary of State, (1930) 5 ILR.

  38. India v. Singh, (1959) P H 39.

  39. Bose v. Governor General in Council, CHC 242 (1952).

  40. Calcutta Motor Cycle v. India, CHC 1 (1953).

  41. Kalwani v. Union of India, CHC 430 (1960).

  42. State of Rajasthan v. Vidvawati, SCR 989 (1962).

  43. id.

  44. id.

  45. Jain v. State of Uttar Pradesh, SCR 375 (1965).

  46. Nikhilesh Koudinya, Limits of Sovereign Immunity, Latest Laws (Nov. 22, 2020) https://www.latestlaws.com/art.icles/limits-of-sovereign-immunity/.

  47.  Navigation, supra note 31.

  48. M.P. Jain, supra note 1, at 771.

  49. M.P. Jain, supra note 1, at 773.

  50. Reddy v. State of Andhra Pradesh, ACJ 668 AP 235 (1990).

  51. India Const., supra note 23.

  52. Union of India v. Bezbarua, Gau 116 (1953).

  53. State of Andhra Pradesh v. Reddy, (2000).

  54. id.

  55. Shah v. State of Bihar, SCR 508 (1983).

  56. Singh v. State of Rajasthan, WLC 109 (1992).

  57. Law Commission of India Report, (Apr. 24, 2021) https://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/Report277.pdf.

  58. A D M Jabalpur v. Shukla, SCC 521 (1976).

  59. id.

  60. India Const. supra note 11.

  61. India Const. supra note 23.

  62. India Const. art. 22.

  63. id.

  64. Commissioner v. Prakash, SCR 655 (1969).

  65. Sawhney v. Ramarathnam, SCR 525 (1967).

  66. State of Karnataka v. Devi, Civil App 3595-3612 of 1999 (2006).

  67. India Const. art. 16.

  68. Bhart.i v. State of Kerala, 4 SCC 225 (1983).

  69. Union of India v. Singh, SCR 316 (1989).

  70. Francis, supra note 26.

  71. Morley’s Digest, supra note 25.

  72. Indian Contract Act, § 10, (1872).

  73. India Const. art. 299.

  74. Rao and Co. v. State of A.P., 6 SCC 205 (1994).

  75. A.R. Blackshield, Tortious Liability of Government: A Jurisprudential Case Note, 8 JILI 1966 (Nov. 22, 2020) https://www.jstor.org/stable/43949926?seq=1

  76. State of Andhra, supra note 54.

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