Public Duty

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Introduction

“Public duty” refers to the legal and moral obligations that attach to persons or bodies exercising public power — most obviously public servants and public authorities — to act in the interest of the State, the public at large, and individuals who come within the ambit of that authority. In India, the concept operates across criminal law (misfeasance/nonfeasance by public servants), administrative law (mandamus, prohibition, and supervision), constitutional law (the State’s obligations under fundamental rights), statutory regimes (e.g., RTI, Prevention of Corruption Act) and tort/compensation jurisprudence. For practitioners, understanding how “public duty” translates into enforceable obligations, and when a general public duty gives rise to an actionable duty towards an individual, is indispensable to framing writs, criminal complaints, service matters and claims for compensation.

Core Legal Framework

Primary provisions and legal anchors practitioners must keep visible:

  • Constitution of India
  • Article 12 — definition of “State”: Central and State Governments and instrumentalities fall within the State for enforcement of constitutional obligations.
  • Article 21 — protection of life and personal liberty; expansive jurisprudence treats many State functions as giving rise to duties under Article 21.

  • Articles 32 and 226 — remedies by which breach of public duty by the State or its agencies can be challenged (public interest litigation frequently used to enforce public duties).

  • Indian Penal Code, 1860

  • Section 21 — defines “public servant” for the IPC (and informs who can be charged with offences that require a public servant).

  • Section 166 — criminal liability for a public servant who “disobeys law, with intent to cause injury to any person” (captures willful default/disobedience by public servants).

  • Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988

  • Section 2(c) — statutory definition of “public servant” for anti-corruption offences.

  • Sections 7–13 — offences for bribery and criminal misconduct by public servants — these provisions enforce duties of impartiality, honesty and fidelity.

  • Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

  • Section 154 — initiation of criminal investigation (FIR) when a cognizable offence by a public servant is alleged.

  • Section 156(3) — magistrate’s power to order investigation into alleged public wrongs when police refuse/inadequately investigate.

  • Right to Information Act, 2005

  • Section 2(h) — defines “public authority”; Sections 4 and 5 — proactive disclosure and obligations of public authorities (statutory duties of transparency and record-keeping).

  • Tort/Compensation and PIL Jurisprudence

  • Constitutional tort doctrine: availability of money compensation under Article 32/226 in appropriate cases (custodial deaths, unlawful detention, etc.) — established and developed by the Supreme Court.

Practical Application and Nuances

  1. Two distinct but overlapping senses of “public duty”
  2. Duty owed by a public servant/authority to the public at large (a general duty): e.g., maintenance of public roads, provision of potable water, disaster management.
  3. Duty owed by a public servant/authority to an individual or identifiable group (a particularised duty): e.g., a police officer’s duty to protect a specific person after receiving a complaint; a municipal authority’s duty to maintain a specific sewer where failure causes predictable harm.

Practical import: Courts are reluctant to convert every general/public duty into an individualised duty actionable in tort or for compensation. To succeed on a claim for redress, the petitioner usually must show either (a) a statutory or contractual duty owed to the individual, or (b) a special relationship / proximity giving rise to an individual duty, or (c) that the breach shocks the conscience (for constitutional tort).

  1. Establishing breach of public duty in different forums

A. Criminal prosecution of a public servant
– Elements to emphasize: (i) the accused was a public servant (establish via appointment orders, identity cards, pay records); (ii) existence and nature of the statutory/official duty (office orders, service rules, circulars); (iii) breach with requisite mens rea (for s.166 IPC, proof of knowledge and intent to disobey); (iv) causation — the breach caused the injury alleged.
– Evidence: official records, contemporaneous orders, written communications, certified copies of files, witness statements of co-employees, RTI-obtained documents; in corruption cases, bank statements, seized assets and witnesses to the transaction.
– Tactical points: avoid weakly framed private vendetta complaints; ensure a clear nexus between the act/omission of the public servant and the injury. Use Section 156(3) CrPC or approach the magistrate when police refuse to register FIR.

B. Writ petitions and public law claims
– Mandamus for enforcement of a public duty: show existence of a legal duty (statute, rule, fundamental right) and reluctance/omission by authority to perform the duty.
– PIL: useful for systemic failures (environmental harms, prisons, bonded labour). Reliefs often include directions to perform duties, creation of supervisory committees, timelines, and compensation.
– Evidence: policy documents, audit reports, inspection reports, RTI disclosures, newspaper reports (if corroborated), affidavits of affected persons.

C. Compensation claims (constitutional torts/torts)
– Two principal routes: public law remedy (Articles 32/226) and private law tort action (negligence, nuisance, breach of statutory duty).
– For constitutional torts — custodial death, prolonged unlawful detention — emphasise direct breach of Article 21 rights; rely on precedents awarding compensation (Nilabati Behera-type jurisprudence).
– For negligence claims against the State: establish duty of care (often easier when the victim is foreseeable and within a class the public duty directly aims to protect), breach, causation and damage.

  1. The “public duty doctrine” and how courts treat it
  2. General rule: where a duty is owed to the public at large, not specifically to an individual, courts normally refuse to impose a private cause of action unless a special relationship creates proximity or a statute or clear policy imposes a specific obligation to the individual.

  3. How to convert a public duty into an individual duty in practice:

    • Demonstrate statutory language imposing individualized obligations (e.g., service rules, statutory inspection duties directed at particular factories).
    • Show that the authority’s actions/omissions were targeted at or affected the petitioner in a specific and foreseeable way.
    • Prove that the authority assumed responsibility towards the victim (e.g., the police assuring protection), creating reliance.
    • Demonstrate arbitrary, mala fide, or grossly negligent conduct that amounts to a breach that shocks the conscience — judicially acceptable ground for compensation.

  4. Common evidentiary and procedural prescriptions

  5. Preserve official records early: file RTI applications on key documents; seek interim injunctions and directions to preserve evidence if necessary.
  6. Use certified copies of orders/files and deployment/attendance registers to place the public servant at the locus of breach.
  7. Secure expert evidence (e.g., forensic, engineering, medical) where technical causation is in issue.
  8. In criminal prosecutions under Prevention of Corruption Act or IPC, obtain bank account details, property disclosures and follow money trails with the assistance of investigators.

Landmark Judgments

  • Francis Coralie Mullin v. Union Territory of Delhi, (1981) 1 SCC 608

  • Principle: Article 21’s protection of “life” includes various facets of human dignity and necessitates that the State perform certain core functions to preserve life and dignity. The decision underscores that failures by the State to provide minimal standards can engage constitutional duties.

  • Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India, (1984) 3 SCC 161

  • Principle: The State has a positive obligation to protect vulnerable groups (bonded laborers). The Court used public interest litigation to enforce public duties and directed systemic remedial measures.

  • Nilabati Behera v. State of Orissa, (1993) 2 SCC 746

  • Principle: Recognised compensation by courts under Article 32 for custodial death (constitutional tort). The decision established that custodial violence breaches both statutory duties and constitutional obligations, attracting compensation.

  • Jacob Mathew v. State of Punjab, (2005) 6 SCC 1

  • Principle: On criminal prosecution of medical professionals for negligence; the Court held that prosecution should be reserved for cases of gross or reckless negligence that amount to culpable homicide or constitute a criminal offence; mere error of judgment or bona fide negligence will not warrant criminal sanction. This illustrates the Court’s caution in converting professional/public duty lapses into criminality unless the conduct is egregious.

Strategic Considerations for Practitioners

  1. Client intake and cause analysis

  2. Map whether the grievance arises from a public duty owed to the public at large or to the individual client. That mapping determines the reliefs likely to succeed (PIL/mandamus vs private damages vs criminal complaint).

  3. Choice of forum and relief mix

  4. Combine remedies: simultaneous approach to police/magistrate for criminal action (FIR/156(3) application) and filing a writ/PIL for supervision and interim relief. For custodial deaths or gross administrative failures, seek both directions for inquiry and interim protection for affected persons.

  5. Use of RTI and documents

  6. Early RTI filings strengthen factual matrices: service records, inspection reports, orders, sanction documents. Use RTI to force disclosure of records otherwise denied.

  7. Crafting pleadings

  8. For damages claims: plead statutory or contractual obligations, or facts creating a special relationship. Quantify harm and plead causation using technical evidence where necessary.

  9. In criminal complaints, distinctly set out statutory duty breached, mens rea, and documentary proof. Avoid vague allegations.

  10. Engaging experts and interim commissions

  11. Where technical negligence or causation is in issue, obtain expert affidavits before filing. Courts often appoint commissions or independent experts — frame reliefs to include such supervisory mechanisms.

  12. Liaison with investigative agencies

  13. For corruption/public servant offences under PCA, secure preliminary orders for investigation; if local police are hostile, consider requesting a magistrate to invoke Section 156(3) CrPC or seek a CBI probe only after satisfying statutory and supervisory thresholds.

  14. Avoiding pitfalls

  15. Pitfall 1: Treating all policy failure as private injury. Courts will strike down attempts to convert broad policy deficiencies into individual claims without establishing proximity or particularised duty.
  16. Pitfall 2: Premature criminalisation of administrative lapses. Courts (e.g., Jacob Mathew) expect a high threshold before criminal sanction; counsel should temper expectations and focus on administrative remedies and compensation where appropriate.
  17. Pitfall 3: Delay and laches in filing writs or complaints that allow destruction of evidence. Act swiftly to preserve records and to secure interim relief.
  18. Pitfall 4: Over-reliance on media/publicity. While public attention can aid a cause, it does not substitute for cogent evidence and well-pleaded legal grounds.

Conclusion

“Public duty” in India is a multifaceted concept: it is the obligation of public servants and authorities flowing from constitutional mandates, statutes and office-holding; it is also the normative yardstick by which courts evaluate state action and omissions. For practitioners the central tasks are (i) to identify the precise legal source of the duty (constitutional, statutory, service rule), (ii) to demonstrate how the duty was breached with adequate evidence of causation and, where relevant, mens rea, and (iii) to choose the right remedial vehicle—criminal prosecution, writ/PIL, or compensation claim—calibrated to the facts. Mastery of public duty claims therefore hinges on tight factual scaffolding (records, RTI, expert reports), correct forum choice, and persuasive linkage between the State’s obligation and the individual harm alleged.