Published on:19 July 2023 at 19:49 IST
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: St. Mary’s Education Society v. Rajendra Prasad Bhargava (2023)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that Writ Jurisdiction under the aegis of Article 32 and Article 226 of the Constitution of India cannot be invoked to enforce purely private contracts entered into between the parties. It is held that service contracts falls within the ambit of Private Law, thus the Hon’ble Court of Civil Judge is a better remedy for enforcement of the contracts.
43. In the background of the above legal position, it can be safely concluded that power of judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution of India can be exercised by the High Court even if the body against which an action is sought is not State or an authority or an instrumentality of the State but there must be a public element in the action complained of.
44. A reading of the above extract shows that the decision sought to be corrected or enforced must be in the discharge of a public function. No doubt, the aims and objective of Appellant 1 herein are to impart education, which is a public function. However, the issue herein is with regard to the termination of service of Respondent 1, which is basically a service contract. A body is said to be performing a public function when it seeks to achieve some collective benefit for the public or a section of the public and is accepted by the public or that section of the public as having authority to do so.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra
