India, Nov. 10 -- An organisation cannot escape constitutional scrutiny simply because the government has chosen to set it up as a society rather than a government department or statutory body, the Supreme Court has ruled, making it clear that what matters is how much control the government exercises over its functioning and decision-making, and not the legal form it adopts.

The court said the government cannot sidestep its constitutional obligations by carrying out activities through separately registered entities, but clarified that merely receiving government grants, performing public functions or having some government involvement would not automatically make an organisation an arm of the State.

The observations came as a bench of j...