Name – Sanjay Kumar Gupta

Roll No – LS/LLB/1901/010
Subject – Administrative Law
Course – LLB

Online Mid Term Examination

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Q2) What do you understand by " Rule of Law" and why it is important to be included in daily
administration? Explain with examples its importance.

Ans

Rule of law means nobody is above law and subject to jurisdiction of ordinary court of law irrespective
of tier position and rank. The term ‘rule of law’ is originated from England and India has taken this
concept.

The term ‘rule of law’ is originated from England and India has taken this concept. The concept of rule of
law further requires that no person should be subjected to harsh or arbitrary treatment. The word ‘law’
in rule of law means that whether he is a man or a society, he must not be governed by a man or ruler
but by law. In other words, as per Article 13 of the Indian Constitution rule of law means law of land.

According to Black’s Law Dictionary: “Rule of Law” means legal principles of day to day application,
approved by the governing bodies or authorities and expressed in the form of logical proposition.
According to Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary: “Rule of Law” means the situation in which all the
citizens as well as the state are ruled by the law

Postulates of rule of law

Professor A.V Dicey propounded three principles or postulates of the rule of law in his classic book ‘Law
and the Constitution.’

a. Supremacy of law
b. Equality before law and
c. Predominance of Legal Spirit
a. Supremacy of law
According to Dicey, English men were ruled by the law and the law alone and also where there is
room for arbitrariness and that in a republic no less than under a monarchy discretionary
authority on the part of the Government must mean insecurity for legal freedom on the part of
its subjects. There must be absence of wide discretionary powers on the rulers so that they
cannot make their own laws but must be governed according to the established laws.
b. Equality before law
According to the second principle of Dicey, equality before law and equal subjection of all
classes to the ordinary law of land to be administered by the ordinary law courts and this
Name – Sanjay Kumar Gupta
Roll No – LS/LLB/1901/010
Subject – Administrative Law
Course – LLB

Online Mid Term Examination

_____________________________________________________________________________________
principle emphasizes everyone which included government as well irrespective of their position
or rank
c. Predominance of Legal Spirit
According to the third principle of Dicey, general principles of the Indian Constitution are the
result of the decisions of the Indian judiciary which determine to file rights of private persons in
particular cases. According to him, citizens are being guaranteed the certain rights such as right
to personal liberty and freedom from arrest by many constitutions of the states (countries). Only
when such rights are properly enforceable in the courts of law, those rights can be made
available to the citizens. Rule of law as established by Dicey requires that every action of the
administration must be backed and done in accordance with law

Importance of rule of law in daily administration

Rule of law is a part of daily life and it regulates our everyday life — wages, labour control, food
labelling, product safety specifications, business registration, pensions, social benefits, and those sort of
things.

It’s a branch of administrative law. It is about the creation, procedures, rules and regulations of a
number of government departments and agencies.

At the top level, administrative law is about the government agencies’ decision-making powers and
extent of enforcement capabilities.

The classic examples of rule of law in daily administration are the regulations and operations of things
like: —

Rule of law is important because:

 Rule of law controls the use of force by the governing and enhances the freedom of common
man.
Example : Most famously in the case of Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India[ix] the court ensured
that exercise of power in an arbitrary manner by the government would not infringe the rights
of the people

 It checks abuse of power by authorities.

Example : In re Delhi Laws Case - Gwalior Rayon Silk Manufacturing Co. v Assistant
Commissioner of Sales Tax
Name – Sanjay Kumar Gupta
Roll No – LS/LLB/1901/010
Subject – Administrative Law
Course – LLB

Online Mid Term Examination

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 It empowers individuals with rights which cannot be easily taken-away.

Example: In Kesavananda Bharati the court ensured that laws could not be made that essentially
go against the Rule of Law by saying that the basic structure could not be breached.

 It treats everyone equally without discrimination.

Example: In Chief Settlement Commissioner; Punjab v. Om Prakash, it was observed by the
Supreme Court that The administrative action that does not meet the standard will be set aside
if the aggrieved person brings the matter into notice.

 Its supremacy ensures no person can claim to be above law.

 It ensures adherence of principles of natural justice like: giving reasonable opportunity,
impartiality of decision, etc.
 It leads to fairness, both substantive and procedural.

Q1) Trace the growth and reasons of development of Administrative Law as an important part of Indian
administration.
Ans

Reasons for the Growth of Administrative Law:

The following factors are responsible for the growth of administrative law:

1. The legislative process was also not sufficient. It had lack of time and technique to deal with all
the details. It was impossible for it to lay down detailed rules and procedures, and even when
detailed provisions were laid down by the legislature, they have found to be defective and
inadequate. Therefore, it was necessary to delegate some powers to the administrative
authorities

2. There is a vast change in the role played by the state. The negative policy of maintaining law and
order and social welfare is changing. The state has not confined its scope to the traditional and
minimum functions of defense and administration of justice, but has adopted the positive policy
and as a welfare state has undertaken to perform varied functions

3. The judicial system was proved to be an inadequate to decide and settle all types of disputes. It
was slow, costly, inept, complex and formalistic. It was already overburdened and it was not
possible to expect speedy disposal of even very important matters. Therefore, industrial
tribunals and labour courts. Were established, which possessed the techniques and expertise to
handle these complex problems.
Name – Sanjay Kumar Gupta
Roll No – LS/LLB/1901/010
Subject – Administrative Law
Course – LLB

Online Mid Term Examination

_____________________________________________________________________________________

4. There is scope for experiments in administrative process. Here unlike, in legislation, it is not
necessary to continue a rule until commencement of the next session of the legislature. Here a
rule can be made , tired for some time and if it is defective, can be altered or modified within a
short period. Thus, legislation is rigid in character , while the administrative process is flexible.

5. The administrative authorities can avoid technicalities. Administrative law represents functional
rather than a theoretical and legislative approach. The traditional judiciary is conservative, rigid
and technical. It is impossible for courts to decide cases without formality and technicality.
Administrative tribunals are not bound by rules of evidence and procedure and they can take a
practical view of the matter to decide complex problems.

6. Administrative authorities can take preventive measures. Unlike regular courts of law, they do
not have to wait for parties to come before them with disputes. In many cases, these preventive
actions may prove to be more effective and useful than punishing a person after he has
committed a breach of law. As freeman says, ‘Inspection and grading of meat answers the
consumer’s need more adequately than does a right to sue the seller after the consumer
injured”

7. Administrative authorities can take effective steps for the enforcement of the aforesaid
preventive measures e.g. suspension, revocation and cancellation of license, destruction of
contaminated articles etc., which are not generally available through regular courts of law