Development of administrative law

1) Introduction:-
Administrative law is not a codified, written or well-definedlaw like Indian Penal Code, Indian
Contract Act, Transfer of Property Act etc. It is essentially, unwritten, uncodified or judge-made
law.
It has developed slowly in the wake of factual situations before Courts. It has its origin in need
and necessity in protecting personal rights and in safeguard in individual interests.
Administrative law is based on the assumption that there is a civilized society and from that
assumption certain rules emerge concerning the operation and control of governmental power,
which are called Administrative Law. The fact is that administrative law existed long before the
term administrative law came into use. Administrative Law is therefore, a late fruit of history and
product of modern civilization. It seeks to channelize administrative powers to achieve the basic
goal of any civilized society, that is growth with liberty.
Being related to public administration, administrative law should be deemed to have been in
existence in some form or another in every country having some form of government. It is as
ancient as the administration itself as it is a concomitant of organized administration.
2) Historical growth and development of administrative law in:-
a) England:-
In England, by and large, the existence of Administrative Law as a separate branch of law was not
accepted until the advent of the 20* century. In 1885, Dicey in his famous thesis on rule of law
observed that there was no Administrative Law in England. He had pronounced to Robson: In
England, we know nothing of Administrative Law and we wish to know nothing about it. But while
saying this, he ignored the existence of administrative discretion and administrative justice which
were current even in his days. In a large number of statutes discretionary powers were conferred
on the executive authorities and administrative tribunals which could not be called into question
by the ordinary courts ole But disre poet in logether in at one nodern Von me or us
reports of the Queen s Bench Division, you will find that about half of the cases reported have to
do with rules of administrative law.

In 1914, however, Dicey changed his views. In the last edition of his famous book Law and the
Constitution, published in 1915, he admitted that during the last thirty years, due to increase of
duties and authority of England officials, some elements of droithad entered into the law of
England.
But even then, he did not concede that there was administrative in England. However, after two
decisions of the House of Lords in Board of Education v/s. Rice, 1911, and Local Govt. Board v/s.
Arlidge, 1915, in his article. The Development of Administrative Law in England he observed:
Legislation had conferred a considerable amount of quasi-judicial authority on the administration
which was a considerable step towards the introduction of administrative law in England.
According to Friendman, unfortunately, Dicey misunderstand the scope and ambit of
administrative law. He thought administrative law to be inconsistent with the maintenance of the
rule of law. Hence, while studying the rule of law, he excluded altogether administrative law and a
special system of administrative courts.
As observed by Griffith and Street, the study of administrative law had to suffer a lot because of
Dicey s conservative approach. Of course, in due course, scholars made conscious efforts to
know the real position. But even to them, the study of administrative law was restricted only to
two aspects, viz, delegated legislation and administrative adjudication. Even in 1935, Lord
Hewart, Chief Justice of England described the term Administrative Law as continental jargon.
In 1929, the Committee on Minister s Powers headed by Lord Donoughmore was appointed by
the British Government to examine the problems of delegated legislation and the judicial and
quasi-judicial powers exercised by the officers appointed by the ministers and to suggest
effective steps and suitable safeguards to ensure the supremacy of the rule of law.
In 1932, the Donoughmore Committee submitted its report and made certain recommendations
with regard to better publication and control of subordinate legislation, which were accepted by
Parliament with the passage of the Statutory Instruments Act, 1946. In 1947, the Crown
Proceedings Act was passed by the British Parliament which made the Government liable to pay
damages in cases of tortious and contractual liability of the Crown. Thus, the abandonment of
famous doctrine. The King can do no wrong considerably expanded the scope of administrative
law in England. In 1958, the Tribunals and Inquiries Act was passed for the purpose of better
control and supervision of administrative decisions, and the decisions of the administrative
authorities and tribunals were made subject to appeal and supervisory jurisdiction of the regular
courts of law.
b): USA:-
Administrative Law was in existence in America in the 18 century, when the first federal
administrative law was embodied in the statute in 1789, but it grew rapidly with the passing of
the Inter-State Commerce Act, 1877. In 1893, Frank Goodnow published a book on Comparative
Administrative Law and in 1905, another book on the Principles of Administrative law of the
United States was published. In 1911, Ernst Freund s Case-Book on Administrative Law was
published. The Bench and the Bar also took interest in the study of administrative law. In his
address to the American Bar Association in 1946, President Elihu Root warned the country by
saying: There is one special field of law, development of which was manifestly become inevitable.
We are entering upon the creation of a body of administrative law, quite different in its
machinery, its remedies and its necessary safeguards from the old methods of regulation by
specific statutes enforced by the courts.
If we are to continue a Government of limited powers, these agencies of regulation must
themselves be regulated. Unfortunately, this advice of a wise counsel was ignored by the leaders
of the Bar. The powers of the administrative bodies continued to increase day by day and they
became a Fourth Branch of the Government.
After the New Deal, it was felt necessary to take effective steps in this field. A special committee
was appointed in 1933 which called for greater judicial control over administrative agencies.
After the report of Roscoe Pound Committee of 1938 and Attorney General s Committee in 1939,
the Administrative Procedure Act, 1946 was passed which contained many provisions relating to
the judicial control over administrative actions.

c) India

Administrative law was in existence in India even in ancient times. Under the Mauryas and
Guptas, several centuries before Christ, there was well-organised and centralized administration
in India. The rule of Dharma was observed by Kings and Administrators and nobody claimed any
exemption from it. Though the rule of Dharma was given wider meaning than rule of law or due
process of law, it was not fully recognized and hence there was no administrative law in
existence in the sense in which we study administrative law today.
With the establishment of East India Company and the advent of British Rule in India, the powers
of government had increased. British Government passed many Acts and statutes, rules and
regulations for regulation of public safety, health, morality, transport and labour legislation. In the
year 1861 the practice of granting administrative licence began with State Carriage Act. The first
public corporation was established in the year 1879 under the Bombay Port Trust Act. Delegated
legislation was accepted by the Northern India Canal and Drainage Act, 1873 and the Opium Act,
1878. Proper and effective steps were taken to regulate the trade and traffic in explosives by the
Indian Explosives Act, 1884. In many statutes, provisions were made regarding holding of permits
and licences and for the settlement of disputes by the administrative authorities and tribunals.
During the Second World War, the executive powers tremendously increased. The Defence of
India Act, 1939 and the Rules made there under conferred ample powers on the executive to
interfere with life, liberty and property of an individual with little or no judicial control over them.
In addition to this, the Government issues many orders and ordinances covering several matters
by way of administrative instructions.
Since Independence, the activities and the functions of the Government have further increased.
Under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Factories Act, 1948
Under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Factories Act, 1948
and the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948, important social security measures have been
taken for those employed in industries. Some of the labour legislations are regulatory in nature
whereby the relationship between employer and employee is controlled.
The philosophy of a Welfare State has been specifically embodied in the Constitution of India.
The preamble of the Indian Constitution itself provides for all citizens social, economic and
political justice, equality of status and opportunity.
The ownership and control of material resources of the society should be so distributed as best
to subserve the common good. The operation of the economic system should not result in the
concentration of wealth and means of production. The preamble of the Indian Constitution
provides for objects and aims and for its implementation the State is given power to impose
reasonable restrictions even on the Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Constitution under
Article 19(2) to 19(6). In fact, to ensure these objects, several steps have been taken by
Parliament by passing many Acts, e.g. the Industrial (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, the
Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952, the Essential Commodities Act,
1955, the Companies Act, 1956, the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, the Payment of Bonus Act,
1965, the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1969, the Equal
Remuneration Act, 1976, the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976, the Beedi Workers
Welfare Fund Act, 1976, etc.
After independence when reported cases of Supreme Court during the period of 1953 to 1955 of
three years were studied, it was found that about half of the cases dealt with matters of
administrative law. Out of 250 reported cases, 119 belonged to administrative law category. Out
of 275 pages of Supreme Court Judgments, 229 pages were related to the subject of
administrative law. It is obvious that it has been increased considerably thereafter.
Case Law:-
Judicial Approach-;-
The attitude of Judiciary specially of Supreme Court was also changed because while
interpreting all the Acts and the provisions of Constitution, Judges started taking into
consideration the objects and ideals of social welfare.
In Vellukunnel v. Reserve Bank of India, AIR 1962 SC 1371,Supreme Court held that under the
Banking Companies Act, 1949, the Reserve Bank was the sole judge to decide whether the
affairs of the Banking Company were being conducted in a manner prejudicial to the depositors
interest and the Court had no option but to pass an order of winding of as prayed for by the
Reserve Bank.
b)
In State of A.P. v. C.V. Rao, AIR 1980 SC 840, Supreme Court in a matter of departmental inquiry
held that the jurisdiction to issue a writ of certiorari under Art. 226 is supervisory in nature. It is
held that the jurisdiction to issue a writ of certiorari under Art. 226 is supervisory in nature. It is
not an Appellate Court and if there is some evidence on record on which the Tribunal had passed
the order, the said finding cannot be challenged on the ground that the evidence for the same is
insufficient and inadequate. The adequacy or sufficiency of evidence is within the exclusive
jurisdiction of the Tribunal.
C)
In M.P. Srivastav v. Suresh Singh, AIR 1976 SC 1080, when a matter comes relating to question
regarding adequacy or sufficiency of training, Supreme Court observed that the expert of opinion
of Public Service Commission would be generally accepted by the Court.
d)
In State of Gujarat v. M.I. Haider Bux, AIR 1977 SC 594, Supreme Court held that under the
provisions of Land Acquisition Act, 1894, ordinarily the Government is the best authority to
decide whether a particular purpose is a public purpose and whether the land can be acquired
for that purpose or not.
e)
In Javed Rasool v. State of J&K, AIR 1984 SC 873, the Supreme Court observed that a member or
Selection Committee can ask even irrelevant questions to judge the capacity of the candidates.
Thus, on one hand the activities and the power of the Government and administrative authorities
have increased and on the other hand, there is a greater need for the enforcement of rule of law
and judicial review over these powers, so that the citizen should be free to enjoy the liberty
guaranteed to them under the Constitution. Therefore, the Constitution of India provides for
extraordinary remedies under Articles 32, 226 and 227 though provisions are made in the
statutes giving right of appeal, revision, etc.
4)
Conclusion.
In England, by and large, the existence of Administrative laws as separate branch of law was not
accepted until the advent of the 20 Century. In 1885, Dicey observed that there was no
administrative law in England but while saying so, he ignored the existence of administrative
discretion and administrative justice which were current even in his days.
In 1914, however, Dicey changed his views. In the last edition of his famous book, Law and the
Constitution, published in 1915, he admitted that during the last 30 years, due to increase of his
duties and authority of English officials, some elements of droit had entered into law of England.
Subsequently, in 1929, the committee of Ministers Powers was appointed to examine the
problems of delegated legislation and administrative adjudication. Administrative was in
existence in America in the 18 Century but it grow rapidly thereafter. In france, administrative law
a branch of law, which deals with powers and duties of various administrative agencies and
officials. Administrative law was in existence in India even in ancient times and subsequently
officials. Administrative law was in existence in India even in ancient times and subsequently
developed with the establishment of East India Company, during the second world war and after
independence when the activities and functions of the government have further increased.
Indian Judiciary contributed a lot to the development of administrative law.