Articles 296 and 297 of the Constitution of India: Escheat, Bona Vacantia and Maritime Resources
Articles 296 and 297 form part of the constitutional framework governing public property. Article 296 deals with property that has no rightful private owner and accrues by escheat, lapse or bona vacantia. Article 297 deals with specified lands, minerals and other valuable things beneath India's maritime zones and with resources of the exclusive economic zone.
Article 296 - Property accruing by escheat, lapse or bona vacantia
Article 296 determines whether ownerless property vests in a State or in the Union. In general, property situated in a State vests in that State, while property falling outside that situation vests in the Union, subject to the constitutional proviso concerning property already in the possession or control of the Union or a State for their respective purposes.
Text of Article 296
Subject as hereinafter provided, any property in the territory of India which, if this Constitution had not come into operation, would have accrued to His Majesty or, as the case may be, to the Ruler of an Indian State by escheat or lapse, or as bona vacantia for want of a rightful owner, shall, if it is property situate in a State, vest in such State, and shall, in any other case, vest in the Union:
Provided that any property which at the date when it would have so accrued to His Majesty or to the Ruler of an Indian State was in the possession or under the control of the Government of India or the Government of a State shall, according as the purposes for which it was then used or held were purposes of the Union or of a State, vest in the Union or in that State.
Explanation. In this article, the expressions "Ruler" and "Indian State" have the same meanings as in Article 363.
Meaning of escheat, lapse and bona vacantia
Escheat broadly refers to property reverting to the State when a person dies intestate without a lawful heir entitled to succeed. Bona vacantia means ownerless property, or property for which no rightful owner exists. Lapse, in the constitutional wording, covers property that would historically have accrued to the sovereign or the ruler under the pre-Constitution legal order.
The key constitutional question under Article 296 is therefore not merely whether property has become ownerless, but also whether it should vest in the concerned State or the Union. The location of the property and the special proviso regarding governmental possession, control and purpose are relevant to that allocation.
Article 297 - Things of value within territorial waters, continental shelf and exclusive economic zone
Article 297 constitutionally vests specified maritime lands, minerals, things of value and exclusive economic zone resources in the Union and provides that they are held for Union purposes. Parliament is empowered to determine the limits of India's territorial waters, continental shelf, exclusive economic zone and other maritime zones by law.
Text of Article 297
(1) All lands, minerals and other things of value underlying the ocean within the territorial waters, or the continental shelf, or the exclusive economic zone, of India shall vest in the Union and be held for the purposes of the Union.
(2) All other resources of the exclusive economic zone of India shall also vest in the Union and be held for the purposes of the Union.
(3) The limits of the territorial waters, the continental shelf, the exclusive economic zone, and other maritime zones, of India shall be such as may be specified, from time to time, by or under any law made by Parliament.
How Article 297 operates with India's maritime zones law
Parliament enacted the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976 to provide the statutory framework for India's maritime zones. Under section 3 of that Act, India's territorial waters extend to 12 nautical miles from the appropriate baseline, subject to the statutory power to alter the limit in accordance with the Act.
The Act also regulates India's rights in the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone. In practical terms, Article 297 supplies the constitutional rule of vesting in the Union, while the 1976 Act provides detailed statutory rules concerning maritime limits, sovereign rights, exploration, exploitation and related matters.
Official legal resources
For authoritative and updated legal material, consult the Legislative Department - Constitution of India and the India Code portal. The official text of the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976 is also available through India Code.
This page is an explanatory legal information resource. For a dispute involving succession, ownerless property, government property or maritime rights, the applicable statute, notifications and current judicial decisions should also be examined.