With great power comes great responsibility. Under Administrative Law, the government authorities have powers and functions to administer an organization, there is a specified manner in which these powers are to be exercised and the aggrieved persons have vested rights available to them when administrative power is abused. The administrative actions of authorities can be challenged before Hon’ble High Court or Tribunals, as prescribed in the statute. Our Best Advocates for administrative law in Chandigarh have dealt with some extremely intricate matters and have garnered quite a vast experience in this prominent practice area. With this article, they attempt that basic principle knowledge of administrative law shall reach those who seek.
Statue Governing Administrative Law
Administrative Law is primarily governed by Constitution of India or in cases where relevant Act is invoked, e.g. The Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 (Central Administrative Tribunal). The administrative law draws its maximum power from Article 14 of Constitution of India to question the validity of the administrative actions.
Whenever a discretionary action is exercised outside the ambit of law, the purpose of the law is not achieved as per the various principles of law or there is an abuse of action, the person aggrieved can approach appropriate court or tribunal as per statutory provisions. The basic principles involved in administrative law are rule of law, separation of powers, reasonableness, natural justice, and proportionality.
1) Rule of law: The concept of rule of law was popularized by A.V. Dicey, a famous jurist. Rule of law ensures restriction of the arbitrary exercise of power by subordinating it to well-defined and established laws.
2) Separation of powers: Constitution of India has 3 organs namely legislation, executive, and judiciary. The functions of all the three organs are well explained in the Constitution of India.
3) Reasonableness: The interpretation of article 14 introduced the concept of reasonableness. Administrative actions of the government are challenged on account of reasonableness. Actions which are not reasonable are arbitrary in law and arbitrariness has no place in Indian Constitution.
4) Natural Justice: The duty to act fairly is also an interpretation of article 14. The opportunity of being heard must be given to both the parties by authorities before deciding any matter.
5) Proportionality: The courts will quash the exercise of discretionary powers in which punishments imposed by administrative bodies are wholly out of proportion to the relevant misconduct.
The petitioner must file a representation in the department to avail the existing remedy before filing a statutory appeal to Tribunal or under Hon’ble High Court under Writ petition. Although, no specified limitation is applicable to the violation of fundamental rights in the Hon’ble High Court the petition may be dismissed on the ground of delay and latches. Our Best Advocates for administrative law in Chandigarh have always advised their clients to file the case within a reasonable time to avoid any damage due to delay.
The administrative authorities shall act reasonably while discharging their official duties and while exercising discretions reasonableness must be kept in mind. If you think that any government officer acted unreasonably, you may consider the options explained in this article.