Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council not 'State' under Article 12 of Constitution: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court recently held that Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) is not a 'State' within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution [Dr Jitarani Udgata v Union of India & Anr]..A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said that GJEPC is a nodal agency, meant to mediate between exporters of gems and jewellery, and the Central Government..The function performed by the GJEPC cannot be termed as “public duty” and any administrative or financial hold that the Central Government is deemed to have over GJEPC is far from pervasive, the Court said.“GJEPC does not satisfy any of the requirements or tests laid down by various Judgements of the Supreme Court for establishing whether or not an authority can be deemed to be a “State” under Article 12,” the bench said..The Court was dealing with an appeal challenging the order of the single-judge dismissing one Dr Jitarani Udgata’s petition challenging their termination from service. The single-judge did not go into the merits of the case after holding that GJEPC is not a 'State'..The Division Bench, after considering the appellant’s argument and examining several judgments of the Supreme Court held that the liberal interpretation that has been given to “State” and “other authorities” under Article 12 has been circumscribed over the years to include only those authorities that can explicitly be deemed to be under the control of the State and performs a public duty or State function..“The control that must be exercised by the State over the authority should be pervasive in nature to the extent that the authority should have limited autonomy,” the Court said.It, therefore, dismissed the appeal noting that the single-judge’s order is legally firm and does not require any interference..Senior Advocates Anoop Chaudhari and June Chaudhari along with advocate Samarth Chowdhary appeared for the appellant.The Central government was represented by advocates Vivekanand Mishra and Aayushmaan Vatsyayana.Senior Advocate Jayant Mehta along with advocates Aman Raj Gandhi, Vardaan Bajaj and Abhishek Tiwari appeared for GJEPC..[Read Order]