WE ARE WHAT WE REPEATEDLY DO EXCELLENCE THAN IS NOT AN ACT, BUT A HABIT

Administrative law is the bye-product of the growing socio-economic functions of the State and the increased powers of the government. Administrative law has become very necessary in the developed society, the relationship of the administrative authorities and the people have become very complex. In order to regulate these complex, relations, some law is necessary, which may bring about regularity certainty and may check at the same time the misuse of powers vested in the administration. With the growth of the society, its complexity increased and thereby presenting new challenges to the administration we can have the appraisal of the same only when we make a comparative study of the duties of the administration in the ancient times with that of the modern times. In the ancient society the functions of the state were very few the prominent among them being protection from foreign invasion, levying of Taxes and maintenance of internal peace & order. It does not mean, however that there was no administrative law before 20th century. In fact administration itself is concomitant of organized Administration. In India itself, administrative law can be traced to the well-organized administration under the Mauryas and Guptas, several centuries before the Christ, following through the administrative, system of Mughals to the administration under the East India Company, the precursor of the modern administrative system. But in the modern society, the functions of the state are manifold, In fact, the modern state is regarded as the custodian of social welfare and consequently, there is not a single field of activity which is free from direct or indirect interference by the state. Along with duties, and powers the state has to shoulder new responsibilities. The growth in the range of responsibilities of the state thus ushered in an administrative age and an era of Administrative law. The development of Administrative law is an inevitable necessity of the modern times; a study of administrative law acquaints us with those rules according to which the administration is to be carried on. Administrative Law Module – 1 has been characterized as the most outstanding legal development of the 20th-century. Administrative Law is that branch of the law, which is concerned, with the composition of powers, duties, rights and liabilities of the various organs of the Government. The rapid growth of administrative Law in modern times is the direct result of the growth of administrative powers. The ruling gospel of the 19th century was Laissez faire which manifested itself in the theories of individualism, individual enterprise and self help. The philosophy envisages minimum government control, maximum free enterprise and contractual freedom. The state was characterized as the law and order state and its role was conceived to be negative as its internal extended primarily to defending the country from external aggression, maintaining law and order within the country dispensing justice to its subjects and collecting a few taxes to finance these activities. It was era of free enterprise. The management of social and economic life was not regarded as government responsibility. But laissez faire doctrine resulted in human misery. It came to be realized that the bargaining position of every person was not equal and uncontrolled contractual freedom led to the exploitation of weaker sections by the stronger e.g. of the labour by the management in industries. On the one hand, slums, unhealthy and dangerous conditions of work, child labour wide spread poverty and exploitation of masses, but on the other hand, concentration of wealth in a few hands, became the order of the day. It came to be recognized that the state should take active interest in ameliorating the conditions of poor. This approach gave rise to the favoured state intervention in and social control and regulation of individual enterprise. The state started to act in the interests of social justice; it assumed a “ positive” role. In course of time, out of dogma of collectivism emerged the concept of “ Social Welfare State” which lays emphasis on the role of state as a vehicle of socio-economic regeneration and welfare of the people. Thus the growth of administrative law is to be attributed to a change of philosophy as to the role and function of state. The shifting of gears from laissez faire state to social welfare state has resulted in change of role of the state. This trend may be illustrated very forcefully by reference to the position in India. Before 1947, India was a police state. The ruling foreign power was primarily interested in strengthening its own domination; the administrative machinery was used mainly with the object in view and the civil service came to be designated as the “steel frame”. The state did not concern itself much with the welfare of the people. But all this changed with the advent of independence with the philosophy in the Indian constitution the preamble to the constitution enunciates the great objectives and the socio- economic goals for the achievement of which the Indian constitution has been conceived and drafted in the mid-20 th century an era when the concept of social welfare state was predominant. It is thus pervaded with the modern outlook regarding the objectives and functions of the state. it embodies a distinct philosophy which regards the state as on organ to secure good and welfare of the people this concept of state is further strengthened by the Module – 1 Directive Principles of state policy which set out the economic, social and political goals of Indian constitutional system. These directives confer certain non-justiceable rights on the people, and place the government under an obligation to achieve and maximize social welfare and basic social values of life education, employment, health etc. In consonance with the modern beliefs of man, the Indian constitution sets up machinery to achieve the goal of economic democracy along with political democracy, for the latter would be meaningless without former. Therefore, the attainment of socio-economic justice being a conscious goal of state policy, there is a vast and inevitable increase in the frequency with which ordinary citizens come into relationship of direct encounter with state power- holder. The Administrative law is an important weapon for bringing about harmony between power and justice. The basic law of the land i.e. the constitution governs the administrators. Administrative law essentially deals with location of power and the limitations thereupon. Since both of these aspects are governed by the constitution, we shall survey the provisions of the constitution, which act as sources of limitations upon the power of the state. This brief outline of the Indian constitution will serve the purpose of providing a proper perspective for the study of administrative law. India’s Constitution is a very lengthy, elaborate and detailed document. It consists of 395 Articles arranged under 22 parts and 9 schedules. It is probably the longest of the organic law now extant in the world. Several reasons have contributed to the prolixity of the Indian Constitution. Firstly , the Constitution deals with the organization and structure not only of the central Government but also of the states. Secondly , in a federal constitution, Center-State relationship is a matter of crucial importance. While other federal constitutions have only skeletal provisions on this matter the Indian Constitution has detailed norms. Thirdly , the Constitution has reduced to writing many unwritten conventions of the British Constitution as for example, the principle of collective responsibility of the Ministers, parliamentary procedure etc. Fourthly , there exist various communities and groups in India. To remove mutual distrust among them, it was felt necessary to include in the Constitution detailed provisions on Fundamental Rights, safeguards to minorities, Scheduled tribes scheduled castes and backward classes. Module – 1 Fifthly , to promote the social welfare concept on which the state of India is to be based. The constitution includes Directive Principles of State Policy. Lastly , the Constitution contains not only the fundamental principles of governance but also many administrative details, such as the provisions regarding citizenship, official languages, government services, electoral machinery etc. In other constitutions, these are usually left to be regulated by the ordinary law of the land. The framers of the Indian Constitution however felt that unless these provisions were contained in the Constitution, an infant democracy might find itself in difficulties, and the smooth and efficient working of the Constitution and the democratic process in the country might be jeopardized. The form of administration has a close relation with the form of the Constitution and the former must be appropriate to the latter. It is quite possible to pervert the constitutional mechanism, without changing its form, by merely changing the form of the administration and making it inconsistent with, and opposed to, the spirit of the constitution. Since India was emerging as an independent country after a long spell of foreign rule, the country lacked democratic values. The constitution-makers therefore thought it prudent not to take unnecessary risks, and to incorporate in the constitution itself the from of administration as well, instead of leaving it to the legislature, so that the whole mechanism may become viable. The preamble to the Constitution declares India to be a Sovereign Democratic Republic. The term ‘Sovereign’ denotes that India is subject to no external authority. The term ‘democratic’ signifies that India has a parliamentary from of government, which means a government responsible to an elected legislature. The preamble to the Constitution enunciates the great objectives and the socio-economic goals for the achievement of which the Indian Constitution has been established. These are: to secure to all citizens of India social, economic and political justice; to secure to all Indian citizens liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; to secure to them equality of status and opportunity, and to promote among them fraternity so as to secure the dignity of the Individual and the unity of the nation. The Indian Constitution has been conceived and drafted in the mid-twentieth century-an era when the concept of social welfare state is predominant. It is thus pervaded with the modern outlook regarding the objectives and functions of the state. It embodies a distinct philosophy of government, and, explicitly declares that India will be organized as a social welfare state, i.e., a state that renders social services to the people and promotes their general welfare. In the formulations and decelerations of the social objectives contained in the preamble, one can Module – 1 clearly discern the impact of the modern political philosophy, which regards the state as an organ to secure the good and welfare of the people. This concept of a welfare state is further strengthened by the Directive Principles of State Policy, which set out the economic, social and political goals of the Indian constitutional system. These directives confer certain non-justiceable rights on the people, and place the governments under an obligation to achieve and maximize social welfare and basic social values like education, employment, health etc. In consonance with the modern beliefs of man, the Indian Constitution sets up a machinery to achieve the goal of economic democracy along with political democracy, for the latter would be meaningless without the former in a poor country like India. India is a country of religions. There exist multifarious religious groups in the country but, in spite of this, the Constitution stands for a secular state of India.. The essential basis of the Indian Constitution is that all citizens are equal, and that the religion of a citizen is entirely irrelevant in the matter of his fundamental rights. The Constitution answers equal freedom for all religions and provide that the religion of the citizen has nothing to do in socio-economic maters. The Indian Constitution has a chapter on Fundamental Rights and thus guarantees to the people certain basic rights and freedoms, such as, inter alia, equal protection of laws, freedom of speech and expression freedom of worship and religion. Freedom of assembly and association, freedom to move freely and to reside and settle an where in India, freedom to follow any occupation, trade or business, freedom of person, freedom against double jeopardy and against export facto laws. Untouchables, the age-old scourge afflicting the Hindu society, have been formally abolished. The people can claim their Fundamental Rights against the state subject to some restrictions, which the state can impose in the interests of social control. These restrictions on Fundamental Rights are expressly mentioned in the Constitution itself and, therefore, these rights can be qualified or a bridged only to the extent laid down. These rights, in substance, constitute inhibitions on the legislative and executive organs of the state. No law or executive action infringing a Fundamental Right can be regarded as valid. In this way, the Constitution demarcates an area of individual freedom and liberty wherein government cannot interfere. The judiciary ensures an effective and speedy enforcement of these rights. Since the inauguration of the Constitution, many significant legal battles have been fought in the area of Fundamental Rights and, thus, a mass of interesting case law has come into being in this area. The Indian society lacks homogeneity, as there exist differences of religion, language, culture, etc. There are sections of people who are comparatively weaker than others-economically, socially and culturally and their lot can be ameliorated only when the state makes a special effort to that end. Mutual suspicion and distrust exist between various religious and linguistic groups. To promote a sense of security among the minorities, to ameliorate the conditions of the depressed and backward classes, to make them useful members of society, to weld the diverse elements into one national and Module – 1 political stream, the Constitution contains a liberal scheme of safeguards to minorities, backward classes and scheduled castes. Provisions have thus been made, inter alia, to reserve seats in the State Legislatures and Lok Sabha and to make reservations services, for some of these groups, to promote the welfare of the depressed and backward classes and to protect the languages and culture of the minorities. India has adopted adult suffrage as a basis of elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies. Every citizen, male or female, who has reached the age of 18 years or over, has a right to vote without any discrimination. It was indeed a very bold step on the part of the constitution- makers to adopt adult suffrage in a country of teeming millions of illiterate people, but they did so for some very sound reasons. If democracy is to be broad-based and the system of government is to have the ultimate sanction of the people as a whole, in a country like India where large masses of people are poor an illiterate, the introduction of any property or educational qualification for exercising the franchise would have amounted to a negation of democratic principles. Any such qualification would have disenfranchised a large number of depressed people. Further, it cannot be assumed that a person with a bare elementary education is in a better position to exercise the franchise are and choose his representatives accordingly. A notable feature of the Constitution is that it accords a dignified and crucial position to the judiciary. Well-ordered and well-regulated judicial machinery had been introduced in the country with the Supreme Court at the apex. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is very broadly worded. It is a general court of appeal from the High Court, is the ultimate arbiter in all-constitutional matters and enjoys an advisory jurisdiction. It can hear appears from any court or tribunal in the country and can issue writ for enforcing the Fundamental Rights. There is thus a good deal of truth in the assertion that the highest court in any other federation. There is a High Court in each State. The High Courts have wide jurisdiction and have been constituted into important instruments of justice. The most signification aspect of their jurisdiction is the power to issue writs. The judiciary in India has been assigned role to play. It has to dispense justice not only between one person and another, but also between the state and the citizens. It interprets the constitution and acts as its protector and guardian by keeping all authorities legislative, executive, administrative, judicial and quasi- judicial-within bounds. The judiciary is entitled to scrutinize any governmental action in order to assess whether or to it conforms to the constitution and the valid laws made there under. The judiciary has powers to protect people’s Fundamental Rights from any unreasonable encroachment by any organ of the state. The judiciary supervises the administrative process in the country, and acts as the balance wheel of federalism by settling disputes between the center and the states or among the state inter se.India’s Constitution is of the federal type. It established a dual polity, a two tier Module – 1 governmental system with the Central Government at one level and the state Governments at the other. The Constitution marks off the sphere of action of each level of government by devising an elaborate scheme of distribution of legislative, administrative, and financial powers between the Centre and the States. A government is entitled to act within its assigned field and cannot go out of it, or encroach on the field assigned to the other government. Thus the Constitution of India is having significant effect on laws including administrative law . It is under this fundamental laws are made and executed, all governmental authorities and the validity of their functioning adjudged. No legislature can make a law and no governmental agency can act, contrary to the constitution no act, executive, legislative, judicial or quasi- judicial, of any administrative agency can stand if contrary to the constitution. The constitution thus conditions the whole government process in the country. The judiciary is obligated to see any governmental organ does not violate the provisions of the constitution. This function of the judiciary entitles it to be called as guardian of the constitution. Today in India, the Administrative process has grown so much that it will not be out of place to say that today we are not governed but administered. It may be pointed out that the constitutional law deals with fundamentals while administrative with details. The learned author, Sh. I.P. Messey, has rightly pointed out, whatever may be the arguments and counter arguments, the fact remains that the administrative law is recognized as separate, independent branch of legal discipline,. Though at times the disciplines of constitutional law and administrative law may over lap. Further clarifying the point he said the correct position seems to be that if one draws two circles of administrative law and constitutional law at a certain place they may over lap and this area may termed as watershed in administrative law. In India, in the Watershed one can include the whole control mechanism provided in the constitution for the control of the administrative authorities that is article 32, 226,136,300 and 311. Need for the Administrative Law: Its Importance And Functions The emergence of the social welfare has affected the democracies very profoundly. It has led to state activism. There has occurred a phenomenal increase in the area of sate operation; it has taken over a number of functions, which were previously left to private enterprise. The state today Module – 1 pervades every aspect of human life. The functions of a modern state may broadly be placed into five categories, viz, the state as:- • = protector, • = provider, • = entrepreneur, • = economic controller and • = arbiter. Administration is the all-pervading feature of life today. The province of administration is wide and embrace following things within its ambit:- • = It makes policies, • = It provides leadership to the legislature, • = It executes and administers the law and • = It takes manifold decisions. • = It exercises today not only the traditional functions of administration, but other varied types of functions as well. • = It exercises legislative power and issues a plethora of rules, bye- laws and orders of a general nature. The advantage of the administrative process is that it could evolve new techniques, processes and instrumentalities, acquire expertise and specialization, to meet and handle new complex problems of modern society. Administration has become a highly complicated job needing a good deal of technical knowledge, expertise and know-how. Continuous experimentation and adjustment of detail has become an essential requisite of modern administration. If a certain rule is found to be unsuitable in practice, a new rule incorporating the lessons learned from experience has to be supplied. The Administration can change an unsuitable rule without much delay. Even if it is dealing with a problem case by case (as does a court), it could change its approach according to the exigency of the situation and the demands of justice. Such a flexibility of approach is not possible in the case of the legislative or the judicial process. Administration has assumed such an extensive, sprawling and varied character, that it is not now easy to define the term “ administration” or to evolve a general norm to identify an administrative body. It does not suffice to say that an administrative body is one, which administers, for the administration does not only put the law into effect, but does much more; it legislates and adjudicates. At times, administration is explained in a negative manner by saying that what does not fall within the purview of the legislature or the judiciary is administration. Module – 1