Suits and proceedings
Part XII: Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits
(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.
The Constitution of India (As on 1 May 2026). Includes every amendment up to the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023. The small raised numbers in the text point to the amendment notes below.
Related articles
- 294Succession to property, assets, rights, liabilities and obligations in certain cases
- 295Succession to property, assets, rights, liabilities and obligations in other cases
- 296Property accruing by escheat or lapse or as bona vacantia
- 297Things of value within territorial waters or continental shelf and resources of the exclusive economic zone to vest in the Union
- 298Power to carry on trade, etc
- 299Contracts