C

Introduction

Administrative law is the law that governs the administrative

actions. Administrative law is a branch of public law. It deals with the
relationship of individuals with the government. It determines the
organisation and power structure of administrative and quasi-judicial
authorities to enforce the law. It is primarily concerned with official actions
and procedures and puts in place a control mechanism by which
administrative agencies stay within bounds. However, administrative law is
not a codified law. It is a judge-made law which evolved over time.

Administrative law has become extremely crucial in the developed society

since the relationship of the administrative authorities and the people has
become complex. In order to regulate these complexities some law is
necessary, which can help maintain regularity certainty and check misuse of
powers vested in the administration. This increase in the spectrum of
responsibilities ushered in an administrative age and an era of Administrative
law. Administrative has been characterized as the most outstanding legal
development of the 20th-century. 
Administrative law has developed from a combination of forces, some pushing on the legal
system from without while others from within. From without came the most powerful
forces, economic and social; from within came resistance against the impractical
technicalities and inflexibility of a structure adapted by older generations, conditions, and
foundations, and which were welded too firmly on the present.

The principle objective behind the study of administration law is to unwind how these
administrative authorities could be kept within their limits with the goal that the
discretionary powers may not be transformed into arbitrary powers. In simple words,
administrative law restrains the authorities from using their powers in an abusive manner
and ensure that the Administrative or public authorities works in a legal, reasonable and
efficient way.

Definition

It is difficult to evolve a satisfactory definition of Administrative Law. Many

jurists have made attempts to define Administrative Law, but none have succeeded
in giving a clear picture of what Administrative Law is:

Ivor Jennings defines Administrative Law as “the law relating to the

administration. It determines the organization, powers, and duties of administrative
authorities”.
This definition is broad and includes various matters like Administrative
Organisation, the law of Civil Service, etc.
But it does not include the enormous number of substantive laws produced by the
agencies. It also does not mention procedures but leaves them to be implied by
words like ‘organization’, ‘powers’, and ‘duties.’

Evaluation of Administrative law in India

 Ancient Period

Administrative law in India can be traced back to ancient history times. The
Maurya and the Gupta dynasties of Ancient India had centralised administrative
system. Following this, came the Mughals who had somewhat similar
administrative system. The kings in the anterior period of history were mostly
concerned majorly about three things-

 Protecting the state from external aggression

 Maintaining law and order and order
 Collecting taxes.

 BRITISH PERIOD

In many statutes, provisions were made vis-a-vis granting of permits and

licences and settlement of disputes by administrative authorities and tribunals.
During the Second World War, the executive powers increased manifold by
virtue of Defence of India Act. In addition to this, the government issued many
orders and ordinances, covering several matters by way of Administrative
instructions.

Well-organized administration existed only during the period of the East India
Company and only during the British Rule in India, many royal Charters, Acts,
Statutes, and Legislations were passed in different fields of life like transport,
labor, and safety, morality, etc.
  CHARTER ACTS
The following are the several Charter Acts, which have relevance to administrative
law and its growth.

Charter Act 1726:

Under the Charter Act 1726, attempts were made to separate the executive from the
judiciary.
Regulating Act 1773:
1. In 1773, the Regulating Act was passed with the object to bring the
management of the company under the control of the British
Parliament and the British Crown. This Act introduced many reforms
in the company’s Government in India. Under this Act, several legal
provisions were made for the new Government’s administration
under the Governor-General and Council.
2. The Governor of Bengal was designated as the Governor-General of
Bengal. The Presidencies of Bombay and Madras were brought
under the control and superintendence of the Governor-General and
Council.
3. the Governor-General and Council were empowered to make rules
and regulations and ordinances. The rules, regulations, and
ordinances made by the Council were required to be just,
reasonable, and not repugnant to the Laws in England.
4. The Regulating Act, 1773 empowered the Governor-General and
council to make rules, regulations, etc., for the administration of the
Government. Such rules etc. came into force after being published
[and registered with the Supreme Court and with its consent.

CORNWALLIS CODE 1793

In 1793, the Cornwallis code containing a set of 48 regulations was published.

CHARTER ACT 1800

The Charter Act of 1800 empowered the Governor in Council of Madras to
regulations for the Mofussil Courts and Council in that Presidency.

CHARTER ACT 1807

In 1807, each Presidency Government was empowered to make regulations for the
presidency town and also for the Mofussil places under its administrative control.

CHARTER ACT 1813

Charter Act of 1813 extended the legislative powers of the government to all three
Presidencies. It authorized them to levy taxes also.

CHARTER ACT 1833:

Charter Act of 1833 empowered the Governor-General in Council to appoint a
Law Commission and as a result the First Law Commission was appointed in India
in 1835.

AFTER INDEPENDENCE
After independence, India became a welfare state and the Indian Constitution
became a major source the for growth of administrative law.

According to Article 43-A of the Constitution, the State must take steps by
suitable legislation to secure the participation of workers in industrial management.
Article 45 provides that the state shall endeavour to provide, within 10 years from
the commencement of the constitution free and compulsory education for all
children until they complete the age of 14 years.

Article 47 provides that the state shall endeavor in raising the level of nutrition and
the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health.

Article 48-A the state shall endeavor to protect and improve the environment and
safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.

Article 300 provides for the liabilities of the Government for the torts committed
by its servants.

Article 311 protects the civil servants by prescribing the procedure to be followed
in dismissing terminating and reducing the rank of a public servant.

ROLE OF SUPREME COURT AND HIGH COURTS IN THE GROWTHNOF

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

The Supreme Court and the High Courts have been given wide jurisdiction to
check the administrative excesses and arbitrariness. The judgments of the Supreme
Court and High Courts act as precedents to be necessarily followed by
Administrative Tribunals in deciding administrative matters.
Further, the judiciary takes into consideration the objects and ideals of the social
welfare state while interpreting the statutes and their Constitution. Articles
32 and 226 of the constitution provides for judicial review in the form of writs
against ultra vires acts of the administrative authorities.

Development of administrative law in UK

In 1885 a British jurist A.V. Dicey rejected the whole concept of Administrative
law. Due to this several legal thinkers suspended the notion of acknowledging
the various statutory powers given to administrative authorities to form a
separate branch of law. They disregarded the control exercised by such
authorities to be anything distinct in itself. Hence, until 20 th century
administrative law was not given its due in England. It was only later that the
concept came to be recognised.

In 1929, Lord Donoughmore Committee recommended for better publication

and control of subordinate legislation. The legal maxim that the king can do no
wrong, was abolished and the scope and extent of administrative law was
expanded by the Crown Proceeding Act, 1947. It allowed initiation of civil
proceedings against the Crown in a similar fashion to any ordinary private
citizen.

The Tribunals and Inquiries Act, 1958 brought about better control
and ;;,,supervision of administrative decisions. Breen v Amalgamated
Engineering Union[ii] was the first case wherein the existence of administrative
law in England was recognised.

Development of administrative law in USA

The existence and growth of administrative law was ignored in the United
States until it grew into being the fourth branch of Democracy. Administrative
law was checked by the distribution of powers under a federal system. Not until
19th century the Congress used its interstate commerce powers for regulatory
purposes, with recourse into administration by commission.

In the United States the rise of administrative law is contemporaneous with the
need for governmental regulation of industry. Such a need led to the creation in
1887 of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). In 1933 a special
committee was appointed to determine how judicial control over administrative
agencies could be exercised. Thereafter, the Administrative Procedure Act,
1946 was passed which provided for judicial control over administrative
actions.

American administrative law developed from the operation of these different

regulatory agencies, vested with significant powers to determine, by rule or by
decision, private rights and obligations. During the 1920s courses on
administrative law began to be offered in law schools, the American Bar
Association set up a special committee on the subject, and it came increasingly
to occupy the attention of courts and lawyers.[iv]

Development of administrative law in France

During the early years of the First Empire when the judicial courts were, in
large measure, the servile instruments of Napoleon, they refused to entertain the
plea of illegality as a bar to prosecution for the violation of all acts of the
administrative authorities, from the lowest to the highest.

]In 1800, however, the court of cassation which three years before had held that
the inferior judges had no right to refuse to enforce prefectural or municipal
police ordinances on the ground of their illegality, changed its opinion and ruled
that they were not bound to impose fines for the violation of such ordinances.

During the period of the Restoration when the judges became more independent
in consequence of the adoption of the rule of non removability, they went
further and held that they were not even bound to impose fines for the violation
of ordinances issued by the King[v] 

Even so-called ordinances of public administration issued by the President of

the Republic upon the advice of the council of state, which until 1907 could not
be questioned either before the administrative or judicial courts, are now
attackable before both classes of courts on the ground of illegality and during
the world war, when the French Parliament delegated extraordinary ordinance
power to the President, the judicial courts regularly entertained the exception of
illegality against such ordinances.

Conclusion

The growth of administrative law resulted as the natural accompaniment of the

growth of administrative agencies in existence in the recognized governmental
functions and of the new agencies set up to meet the needs of a changing
society.
Administrative Law is a branch of public law which deals with the relationship
of the individual with the administrative authorities. Administrative Law deals
with the organization and powers of administrative and quasi-administrative
agencies, procedure for exercise of those power and control over those
powers.The study of administrative law is not an end in itself but it means to an
end. The main object of study of administrative law is the reconciliation of
power with liberty of the individual. Administrative law is not a branch of
philosophy of law but of sociology of law.

To conclude we can say that the administrative law has become a fundamental
part of the advanced government activity and its working incorporate legislative
and judicial powers.