SOURCES OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

Administrative law is that part of the protected law which

manages the forces and obligations of managerial specialists,
the system followed by them in practising powers and releasing
the obligations and the cures accessible to an abused individual
when his privileges are influenced by the activity of such
authorities. Administrative law is indistinct without a doubt
however it conveys significance as characterized particularly in
the Indian view. It’s a procedure by which specialists get power
from councils to manage certain capacities which are required to
be performed for the improvement and implementation of laws
characterized. The main sources of administrative law in India
are as follows:

The Constitution of India:

India has a written Constitution which is the supreme law of the

land. Being the groundnorm of the legal system of the country,
it conditions and overrides all legislative and administrative
actions. Besides providing for functional organisation and
consequential growth in administrative process, the Constitution
has also provided for an elaborate control mechanism. The
Constitution demarcates the legislative and administrative
power of the Union and the States conferring on the courts, the
power to review legislative and administrative action and
adjudge their constitutionality. All the legislative actions of the
administration have been expressly brought by the Constitution
within the purview of Article 13 by defining ‘Law’ as including
‘order’, ‘bye-law’, ‘rule’ and ‘notification’ etc. having the force of
law. All these features of the Constitution influence and shape
the nature and content of administrative law in India.

Statutes:

Statute is the principal source of administrative power. Statute

emanates from the Constitution. Under the Constitution, law-
making power has been given to Parliament and State
Legislatures. Administration is given powers by statutes. All the
statutes have to conform to the constitutional patterns. Exercise
of administrative powers has to conform to statutory patterns.
In England as well in the United States, a good deal of legislation
has been enacted to provide for administrative procedures,
composition and procedures of tribunals, liability of state and its
bureaucracy and for strengthening the control on the exercise of
administrative powers.

Committee Reports:

The phenomenal explosion of scientific, industrial and

technological know-how placed a counter-balancing
responsibility on the functional government to control the forces
which science and technology had unleashed. Modernisation and
technological developments had created crucial problems such
as cultural conflicts, haphazard urbanisation, ruthless
exploitation of natural resources, environmental pollution,
concentration of economic power, staggering inflation,
accelerated smuggling, etc. which a modern government
confronts with. These multidimensional problems with a varied
social, economic and political ramifications demanded growth of
administration and law regulating administration. In such a
socio-economic context the increasing powers of administration
attracted the attention of the jurists. The main purpose of these
documents is to establish a legal framework for discharging the
law, developing legal policy, or regulating activities by local
government bodies.

Judicial Decisions:

Judicial decisions are important in the legal system. Judicial

decisions are the final word on subjects covered by law. They
provide a form of legal precedent and create binding rules of law
that can be used in other cases.

Administrative practice:

The basis of Indian Administrative Law is judge-made law. This

means that it is subject to all the strengths and frailties of judicial
law-making. In the absence of special administrative courts, new
norms of administrative law have been evolved. The function of
courts is two-fold, regulative and formative. The rules laid for
controlling the actions of administration by various devices
namely, reasoned decisions, quasi-judicial function, rules of
natural justice, for instance, rule of hearing and rule against bias
have been developed. The new principles laid down form
guidelines for the future course of action.

Rules, Regulation etc:

“Administrative quasi-legislation” is a term coined for

administrative directions or instructions. An increasing modern
trend is the issuing of directions or instructions by the functional
government at work. In any intensive form of government, the
desirability and efficacy of administrative directions issued by
the superior administrative authorities to their subordinates
cannot be dispensed with. “Administrative Direction” is a most
efficacious technique for achieving some kind of uniformity in the
exercise of administrative discretion and determination of policy
and its uniform application. These instructions also serve the
purpose of providing desired flexibility to the administration
devoid of technicalities involved in rule-making process.

Rules of Natural Justice:

Although the phrase “principle of natural justice” is derived from

the Latin word “jus natural,” it is strongly linked to common law
and moral principles. According to the Supreme Court, the goal
of judicial and administrative organisations is to achieve a
reasonable and justifiable conclusion. Natural justice’s principal
purpose is to prevent miscarriages of justice. Three important
procedures relating to natural justice principles were supplied by
a group known as “Ministers Power.” These are their names:
• Nobody should be a judge in their own case.
• No one may be condemned unless they have been heard.
• Every explanation and decision taken by the authority must be
disclosed to the party

The primary purpose of administrative law under common law is

to resolve disputes between the government and the general
population. Post-independence development in India is the
growth of administrative law.

The maxim of equity, Ubi Jus Ibi Remedium:

This concept is based on the Latin maxim “Ubi jus ibi

remedium” which means ‘for every wrong law provides a
remedy.’ According to the law dictionary, it is defined
as “where there is a right, there is a remedy”.

Maxim consists of two words jus and remedium.

Jus signifies ”the legal authority to do or to demand

something’ and remedium may be defined to be ‘the right of
action, or means given by law for the recovery or assertion of a
right.’

Bhim Singh v State of Jammu and Kashmir, AIR 1986 SC 494

FACTS: the petitioner Bhim Singh, MLA of Jammu and Kashmir

Assembly was illegally detained by the police while he was going
to attend the Assembly Session and was thus prevented from
exercising his legal right to attend the assembly. He was not
presented before the magistrate in time and had a legal right to
attend the meeting.

CONTENTION: The plaintiff contended that he was illegally

detained by the police and his fundamental right under article
21, Constitution of India was also violated. He claimed a certain
amount of compensation for the damage awarded to him.

HELD: The Apex Court held that the plaintiff’s fundamental right
under article 21, was violated and he had a legal right to attend
the session but he was illegally detained by police. The court
held that defendants were liable to pay the amount of Rs. 50,000
as compensation to the petitioner for the infringement of his
fundamental rights.