Reasons for the Growth of Administrative Law

Introduction:
In India there present several Administrative bodies appointed by the Central or the State
government to ensure a proper and systematic functioning of Government Agencies and Public
Enterprises established either by the state or the central governments. Administrative agencies
can be shortly classified into three the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary All the
administrative activities can be covered under these three main heads. It becomes necessary to
keep an eye on these Administrative Agencies. to regulate the activities of the Administrative
Authorities the concept of Administrative law was introduced. Administrative law deals with
the powers of the Administrative authorities, the manner in which the powers are exercised and
the remedies which are available to the aggrieved persons when those powers are abused by
these authorities. Administrative law is a part of constitutional law and all concerns of
administrative law are also concerns of constitutional law. The main object of the study of
administration law is to unravel the way in which these administrative authorities could be kept
within their limits so that the discretionary powers may not be turned into arbitrary powers.
Chronicle of Administrative Law:
Administrative law is not a codified, document or well-defined law. It is essentially unwritten,
uncodified or a “judge-made” law. The evidence of administrative law can be evidenced even
in the ancient times. The concept of dharma ruled and observed by the kings and administrators.
The basic principles of natural justice and fair play were followed by the kings and officers as
the administration could be run only on those principles accepted by dharma, but still there was
no administrative law in existence in the sense in which it is studied today. After the
establishment of the East India Company and the rule of British rule in India, the powers of the
government had increased. Many Acts, statutes and legislations were passed by the British
government regulating public safety, health, morality, transport and labour relations2. The
practice of granting administrative license began with the state with the Stage Carriage Act
1861.
The first public corporation was established under the Bombay Port Act, 1873. Delegated
legislation was accepted by the Northern India canal and Drainage Act,1873and 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 licenses and for the settlement of disputes by the administrative authorities and
tribunals. In the present century, social and economic policies of the government had
significant impact on private rights of citizens, e.g. housing, employment, planning, education,
health, service, pension, manufacture of goods etc., Traditional legislative and judicial system
could not effectively solve these problems. It resulted in increase in delegated legislation as
well as tribunalisation. Administrative law thus became a living subject. 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 and the Employees
State Insurance Act, 1948, important social security measures have been taken those employed
in industries. The philosophy of a welfare state has been specifically embodied in the Indian
constitution. In constitution itself provisions are there to secure social, economic and political
justice, equality of status and opportunity to all citizens. The ownership and control of material
resources of the society should be so disturbed as to best serve the common good. The operation
of the economic system should not result in the concentration of wealth and means of
production with few. For the implementation of all objects, the state is vested with the power
to impose reasonable restrictions even on the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution.
While interpreting all these Acts and the provisions of the constitution, the judiciary started
taking into consideration the objects and ideals of social welfare3.
In Joseph Kuruvilla Vellukunnel vs RB I4, the Supreme Court held that under the banking
companies Act, 1949, the Reserve Bank was the sole judge to decide whether the affairs of a
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 as prayed for by the reserve bank.
In Javid Rasool Bhat vs state of J&K, the Supreme Court observed that a member of the
Selected Committee can even ask irrelevant questions to explore the candidates capacity to
detect irrelevancies5.
Definitions of Administrative Law:
# Ivor Jennings has defines “ Administrative law is the law relating to the administration. It
determines the Organaisation, powers and duties of the administrative authorities”. This is the
most widely accepted definition.
# According to wade , administrative law is the law relating to the control of Governmental
power. according to him, the primary object of administrative law is to keep powers of the
government with in their legal bounce so as to protect the citizens against their abuse. The
powerful engines of authority must be preventive from running amok.
# According to K.C.Davis administrative law is the law concerning the powers and procedures
of administrative agencies, including especially the law governing judicial review of
administrative action.
# According to garner also adopts the American approach advocated by K.C.Davis. According
to him administrative law may be describe as those rules which are recognized by the courts as
law and which relate to regulate the administration of government.
# According to Griffith and Street, the main object of administrative law is the operation
and control of administrative authorities. It must deal with three aspects.
1.What sought power does the administration exercise?
2.What are the limits of those powers?
3.What are the ways in which the administration is contained within those limits?
Functions of Administrative Law:
The primary function of administrative law is to keep governmental powers within the limits
of law and to protect private rights and individual interests. As already noted, the scope of
activities of the government have expanded. Today the state is “the protector, provider,
entrepreneur, regulator and arbiter”. Rulemaking power and an authority and an authority to
decide are described as effective and powerful weapons of administration. All powers have two
inherent characters 1) they are not absolute or unfettered, and 2) they are likely to be abused.
Administrative law attempts to control the powers of the government, and its agencies. To
achieve the object Administrative law provides an effective mechanism and adequate
protection. It helps to bring a balance between two conflicting forces individual rights and
public interest.
Reasons for the Growth of Administrative Law:
The following factors are responsible for the growth of administrative law:
1. There is a radical change in the philosophy of the role played by the state. The negative
policy of maintaining law and order and social welfare is changing. The state has not
confined its scope to the traditional and minimum functions of defense and administration
of justice, but has adopted the positive policy and as a welfare state has undertaken to
perform varied functions.
2. The judicial system was proved to be an inadequate to decide and settle all types of disputes.
It was slow, costly, inept, complex and formalistic. It was already overburdened and it was
not possible to expect speedy disposal of even very important matters. The important
problems could not be solved by mere literally interpreting the provisions of some statutes,
but required consideration of various other factors and it could not be done by the ordinary
courts of law. Therefore, industrial tribunals and labour courts. Were established, which
possessed the techniques and expertise to handle these complex problems.
3. The legislative process was also inadequate. It had no time and technique to deal with all
the details. It was impossible for it to lay down detailed rules and procedures, and even when
detailed provisions were laid down by the legislature, they have found to be defective and
inadequate. Therefore, it was necessary to delegate some powers to the administrative
authorities
4. There is scope for experiments in administrative process. Here unlike, in legislation, it is
not necessary to continue a rule until commencement of the next session of the legislature.
Here a rule can be made, tired for some time and if it is defective, can be altered or modified
within a short period. Thus, legislation is rigid in character, while the administrative process
is flexible.
5. The administrative authorities can avoid technicalities. Administrative law represents
functional rather than a theoretical and legislative approach. The traditional judiciary is
conservative, rigid and technical. It is impossible for courts to decide cases without
formality and technicality. Administrative tribunals are not bound by rules of evidence and
procedure and they can take a practical view of the matter to decide complex problems.
6. Administrative authorities can take preventive measures. Unlike regular courts of law, they
do not have to wait for parties to come before them with disputes. In many cases, these
preventive actions may prove to be more effective and useful than punishing a person after
he has committed a breach of law. As freeman says, ‘Inspection and grading of meat answers
the consumer’s need more adequately than does a right to sue the seller after the consumer
injured”12.
7. Administrative authorities can take effective steps for the enforcement of the aforesaid
preventive measures e.g. suspension, revocation and cancellation of license, destruction of
contaminated articles etc., which are not generally available through regular courts of law
Conclusion:
The Role of administrative law is to limit the powers of the government agencies and keep a
check in on the administrative authorities. it is not always possible to rely upon some general
statutes for rising disputes between the individuals and the public authorities thus there should
be a proper law to govern such disputes, Administrative law act as the proper law which
governs the administrative actions.