Madras HC rules that Private Bodies with public duties are subject to Article 226 Writ Jurisdiction

The Madras High Court has ruled that private entities discharging public functions would also subject to the courts writ jurisdiction under Article 226. If any private body has a public duty imposed on it, the court has jurisdiction to entertain the writ petition.The court has explained such intervention is required given that several private entities have been vested with the performance of state obligations.

The judge notes down that “ That today in the modern world there are numerous sociology economic activities to be performed by the State. This resulted in sharing some of the obligations to other bodies, while retaining certain level of control over them. This gave an impetus to the public and private bodies to acquire major concerns and started exercising monopoly power over its activities which are close to state functions. By allowing these governmental functions to the private bodies the fundamental rights of citizens are being strained.