National Law University Odisha

COURSE OUTLINE

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

SEMESTER – V
COURSE: B.A. LL.B./ B.B.A. LL.B.

July 2022 to December 2022

No. of Credits: 4

Course Instructors:

Ms. Rishika Khare

(rishika.khare@nluo.ac.in)

Mr. Kanishka

(kanishka@nluo.ac.in)
 INTRODUCTION

The modern State governs in the traditional sense, that is, it maintains law and order,
adjudicates upon disputes, and regulates economic and social life of individuals and groups in
the state. At the same time, it is also the provider of essential services. In the event of need
occasioned by unforeseen hazards of life in a complex society, it engages itself in giving relief
and helps the citizenry towards self-reliance. The assumptions of unprecedented
responsibilities by the state have necessitated devolution on authority of numerous state
functionaries. The number of functionaries in carrying out these tasks has ever been on the
increase due to proliferation of human needs in an age of science and technology. The aggregate
of such functionaries is an essential component of modern administration.

A formidable body of law has come into existence for the purpose of exercising control over
administration. For long, administrative lawyers have been concerned with matters like excess
or abuse of power, maladministration, and abuse of discretion; however, in recent years there
has been a shift in emphasis from finding what the administration may not do to what it must
do. The courts in India, no doubt, strike down administrative acts which are ultra vires or in
violation of procedural norms; however, not much has so far been achieved in compelling the
administration to perform statutory duties, though a beginning has been made in respect of
matters relating to fundamental human liberties. Most of the statutory duties imposed on
administrative agencies or authorities remain largely in the realm of discretion.

A course on administrative law must, therefore, lay emphasis on understanding the structure
and modus operandi of administration. It must take note of developmental perspective and
attainment of social welfare objectives through bureaucratic process. It should go into matters
which facilitate or hinder the attainment of these objectives.

Though in the matter of protection of rights of individuals, against administration, the role of
courts cannot be minimized, it is no less important to know the advantages of informal methods
of settlement. Many new methods of grievance redressal have been devised which are not only
efficacious but also inexpensive and less time consuming. In short, control of the Government
for ensuring the exercise of public power according to constitution and rule of law is the
function of administrative law. The scope of this law is as broad and involved as the extent of
government itself. This course will examine the history of this branch of law, its nature, scope
and functions, the nature and control of delegated power including rule making, the regulation
of administrative discretion and principles of administrative adjudication. The subject will be
handled in a comparative perspective wherever desired. The scope of this law is as broad and
involved as the extent of government itself.
COURSE OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this course are following –

1. To familiarise students with the concepts and principles of the subject and the kinds of
functions performed by the Administrative Authorities.
2. To equip students with the ability to determine the legality of state action and question
actions of authorities when they become arbitrary.
3. To acquaint the students with the process of seeking remedy in case of violation of rights
by the authorities
4. To prepare students to demand accountability from the administrative authorities.
5. To kindle in students critical thinking to question whether the aims of the subject are being
met in India and to what extent

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. Discuss and explain various concepts that the subject encompasses like delegated
legislation, rules of natural justice, administrative discretion and checks on administrative
discretion by adjudication.
2. Identify the nature of the functions performed by administrative bodies.
3. Formulate legal arguments or legal advice in matters relating to functioning of
administrative bodies and violation of rights due to administrative discretion.
4. Apply principles and tools of administrative law to ensure accountability for exercise of
administrative powers.
5. Evaluate the legality of state action and administrative function where there is possibility
of abuse or arbitrary exercise of power and discretion.
6. Assess adequacy of administrative law principles to reinforce accountability and
transparency and need for more measures.
7. Assess the significance of autonomy aimed at by the administrative law and determine
whether it is being achieved in the current political set up.
TEACHING METHODOLOGY & MODE OF ASSESSMENT

Students must attend a total of 64 class hours. The classroom session will be based on active
learning including primarily the teaching methods of lecture and discussion mode, case law
method and flipped classroom teaching. Students are expected to read the materials circulated
to them before a particular topic or case law is discussed in the class. Students are expected to
be familiar with use of electronic journal/case law databases.

Assessment will aim at continuous and comprehensive evaluation. Evaluation will be spread
across the following components –

Mid Semester Examination 25 Marks

Project and Viva 30
End Semester Examination 45
Total 100 Marks

COURSE OUTLINE AND TEACHING PLAN

MODULE I –Introduction to Administrative Law and its Development

This module will introduce the subject of Administrative Law followed by its development
with special reference to growth and development of the subject in India. The module will also
address the question of why administrative law needs to be studied as a separate substantive
law subject independent of Constitutional Law, from different perspectives, and thereby
discuss the difference between Constitutional Law and Administrative Law. The module will
focus on constitutional values of rule of law and separation of powers, on the basis of which
subsequent modules will develop so that throughout the discussion of the subject students are
able to study the varied concepts through the prism of these values.

• Definitions, Nature and Scope of Administrative Law

• Difference between Constitutional Law and Administrative Law
• Growth and Development of Administrative Law:
▪ Theories of Administrative Law;
▪ Droit Administratif
▪ Indian Administrative Law Formations
▪ Difference in Common and Civil Law Countries
• Constitutional Principles (Objections against growth of Administrative Law):
Rule of Law; Separation of Powers
• Administrative Constitutionalism
 List of cases (Indicative): Ram Jawaya Kapur v. State of AP; State of Bombay v. K.P.
Krishnan; Samatha v. State of Andhra Pradesh; Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India; State of
Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain; Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain; S.R. Bommai v. Union of
India; M.P. Mathur v. DTC

[Allotted hours: 10 hours]

Reading Material

• Paul Craig, ‘Formal and Substantive Conceptions of the Rule of Law: An analytical
framework’ in Richard Bellamy (ed.) The Rule of Law and the Separation of Powers (1
edn., Routledge, 2005) Ch 4. (Read Dicey) (Access from the Reading Material)
• V.S. Deshpande, ‘Administrative Law’, India Legal System 333, (Read - 1. Introduction &
2. Place of Administrative Law in the legal system, pages 333 -335)
• Upendra Baxi, ‘Indian Administrative Law Formations’ in I P Massey, Administrative Law
(9 edn., Eastern Book Company, 2017) Introduction. (Access from the Reading Material)
• David Bernstein, ‘The Perils of Administrative Constitutionalism: An American
Perspective’ 2 Journal of Commonwealth Law 2020, 137

MODULE II – Classification of Functions Performed by Administrative Bodies

This module will deal with the various types of functions an administrative body performs,
i.e. administrative, legislative or judicial. It focuses on the difference in three basic kinds of
functions in order to better understand the functions of administrative bodies and their scope
of performance. Classification of function will also help understand the applicability of
principles of natural justice on the kinds of functions.

• Tripartite function: Legislative, Judicial and Administrative

• Classification of Administrative Actions:
▪ Quasi Legislative Actions
▪ Quasi Judicial Actions,
▪ Ministerial or Pure Administrative Action
• Administrative Instruction

List of cases (Indicative): S.L. Syndicate v. Union of India; Union of India v. Cynamide India
Ltd.; State of UP v. Renusagar and Company; Indian National Congress (I) v. Institute of
Social Welfare and Ors.; A.K. Kraipak v. Union of India; Ridge v. Baldwin; Board of
Education v. Rice; Local Government Board v. Aldrige; Express Newspaper Ltd. v. Union of
India; Bakul Cashew Co. Ltd. v. Sales Tax Officer, Quilon

[Allotted hours: 08 hours]

Reading Material

• V.S. Deshpande, ‘Administrative Law’, India Legal System 333 (Read - 3. Variety of
Powers, pages 335 -344)
• M.P. Jain & S.N. Jain, Principles of Administrative Law (7 edn. Lexis Nexis, 2017) -
Chapter 2 - Classification of functions (Access from the Reading Material)

Module III – Delegated Legislation and its Control

This module will focus on the administrative authority’s power of making law. This module
will discuss delegated legislation, it’s kinds, limits of the authorities power while framing
delegated legislation and the grounds on which delegated legislation can be challenged.
Additionally, the module also focuses on the controls on the delegated power of law making.

• Need for Administrative Rule Making

• Classification of Rulemaking Power: Title Based; Nature based; Purpose Based;
Discretion Based; Authority Based
• Scope and Constitutionality of Delegated Legislation:
▪ Essential legislative function
▪ Excessive Delegation
▪ Delegation of Taxing Powers
▪ Retrospective Effect of Delegation
▪ Reasonableness of Rules
• Control on Delegated Legislation
▪ Parliamentary Control
▪ Procedural Control
▪ Judicial Control

List of cases (Indicative): R v. Burrah / Queen v. Burrah; In re: Delhi Laws Act Case;
Harishankal Bagla v. State of M.P.; Gwalior Rayon Co. v. Central Sales Tax; Jalan Trading
Company v. Mill Mazdoor Union; Lachmi Narain v. UoI 1976; Hamdard Dawakhana Wakf v.
UoI; Employees State Insurance (ESI) v. T. Abdul Razak 1996 [Allotted hours: 12 hours]

Reading Material

• M.P. Jain & S.N. Jain, Principles of Administrative Law (7 edn. Lexis Nexis, 2017) -
Chapter IV - Delegated Legislation (Access from the Reading Material)
• Vrinda Bhandari and Renuka Sane, ‘A Critique of the Adhaar Legal Framework: An
account of Excessive Delegation’ (2019) 31(1) National Law School of India Review 72.
• Devanik Saha, ‘Laws approved by the Indian Parliament take clise to nine months to be
enforced’ (Scroll Feb. 2017)

MODULE IV – Concept and Principles of Natural Justice and Practice

Having understood the kinds of functions performed by an administrative authority, this

module will focus on the functions that attract the question of natural justice. Thus, this module
will first address the concept of natural justice and its two principles. The Module then aims at
discussing the scope of application of these principles. Since these principles are not mandatory
in every circumstance, the module also discusses the exceptions of natural justice principles
developed over time through judicial trends
• Development of Natural Justice Principles in UK, US and India
• Traditional principles of Natural Justice - Audi Alteram Partem; Rule Against
Bias
• Expansion of Natural Justice Principles beyond the traditional concept; Actions
that need to be performed for compliance with Fair Hearing; Post Decisional
Hearing; Reasoned Decision
• Exceptions to Natural justice

List of cases (Indicative): J. Mohapatra v. State of Orissa; A.K. Kraipak v. UoI; Gullapali
Nageswara Rao v. Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corp; Gullapali Nageswara Rao v
State of Andhra Pradesh; Morgan v. US 1936; Ridge v. Baldwin; Abhay Kumar v. K.
Srinivasan 1981; Union Carbide Corporation v. UoI; Sub-Committee on Judicial
Accountability v. UoI ; BALCO Employees Union v. UoI; Dr. Bonham’s Case (Medical
Practitioner’s Case – UK ); Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, AIR 1978 SC 597.

[Allotted hours: 8 hours]

Reading Material

• Raeesa Vakil, ‘Constitutionalizing administrative law in the Indian Supreme Court: Natural
justice and fundamental rights’, 16(2) International J. of Constitutional Law, 2018, 475
• Saxena, Hari Sharan. ‘Tribunals and Natural Justice Principles.’ 38(3) Journal of the Indian
Law Institute 1996, pp. 348–361.
• Yatin Sharma, ‘The Faceless Assessment - Principle of Natural Justice’ Mondaq 2021
Module V – Administrative Discretion, Administrative Adjudication and Judicial
Review

This module will firstly deal with the need of administrative discretion exercised in different
spheres of varied functions and judicial control exercised in order to check the excess exercise
of discretion. Followed by discretion the module will focus on adjudication in case of excess
of discretion or legislative powers and disputes The module will address the principles and
problems relating to decision making by administrative authorities. In order to understand
judicial powers of administrative authorities it is important to discuss the establishments of
tribunals and powers conferred on them. This module will therefore discuss the setting up of
tribunals, sources of their power and procedure followed in adjudication.

• Discretionary Powers of Administration

• Administrative Adjudication
• Mechanisms for Administrative Adjudication – Quasi-Judicial Bodies,
Tribunals – meaning, the difference between tribunals and courts.
• Administrative Tribunals: Constitutional Status, Statutory and Domestic
Tribunal; Finality of decisions and Judicial Review
• Rationalisation of Tribunals: The Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and
Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021, Abolition of Tribunals, Tribunals
(Conditions of Service) Rules
• Control of exercise of Discretion
▪ Grounds for exercising Judicial Control
▪ Doctrine of Legitimate Expectation
▪ Doctrine of Promissory Estoppel
▪ Doctrine of Proportionality
▪ Constitutional Remedies
▪ Principle of Wednesbury Reasonableness
List of cases (Indicative): Schmidt v. Secretary of State for Home Affairs; Food Corporation
India v. Kamdhenu Cattlefeed Industries 1948; Marbury v. Madison; Ranjit Thakur v. UoI
1987; Council of Civil Service Union v. Minister of Civil Services; State of WB v. Anwar Ali
Sarkar; Sampat Kumar v. UoI; L. Chandra Kumar v. UoI; Fehmeeda Akhter Vs UT of J&K &
OrsWrit Petition (C) No. 47-A/2020; Prabhat Ranjan Deo Vs Union Public Service
Commission & Ors W. P (C) 3334/2019; Roger Mathew v. South Indian Bank Ltd (November
2019); Odisha Administrative Tribunal Bar Association v. Union of India (June, 2021),
Madras Bar Association v. Union of India (II, III and IV); Jairam Ramesh v. Union of India
2021; Om Kumar v. Union of India 2000

[Allotted hours: 12 hours]

Reading Material

• P. Leelakrishnan, ‘Reviewing Decisions of Administrative Tribunals: Paternalistic

Approach of the Indian Supreme Court and Need for Institutional Reforms’ (January -
March, 2012) 54(1) Journal of the Indian Law Institute 1 (Access from the Reading
Material)
• Law Commission of India, Report on Assessment of Statutory Frameworks of Tribunals in
India (Report No. 2720 (October, 2017)
• T.V. Somanathan, ‘The Administrative and Regulatory State’ in Pratap Bhanu Mehta et.al.
(eds) Oxford Handbook of Indian Constitution (Oxford University Press, 2016) (Access
from the Reading Material)
• R.C. Saksena, ‘Adjudication by Tribunals in India: Landmark in Field of Natural Justice’
(1995) 37(2) Journal of the Indian Law Institute 222
• Prof. G.B. Reddy and Akash Kumar, ‘Administration of Justice: From Tribunalization to
Trivialization’ (7 June, 2021) Bar and Bench
• Swapnil Tripathy, SC’s judgement regarding suo motu powers of tribunals, Indian
Constitutional law Philosophy Nov. 2021.

Module VI – Liability of State and Constitutional Protection to Civil Servants

With the expansion in functions of the state and enormous powers of the administration has
given tremendous capacity to the administration to affect the rights and liberties of the
individual, therefore, it has become important to control the administration in order to ensure
that the government functions are exercised according to law and protection is provided to the
individual against abuse of such power. This module tries to identify the liability of the State
and its officers in case of contractual obligations and tortious obligations while in the course
of employment. The module also addresses the protections available to state servants in service
matters.

• Contractual Liability of the State; Commercial and Non-commercial functions

• Tortious liability of State and its Officers; Sovereign Functions; Sovereign
Immunity
• Doctrine of Pleasure and Constitutional Protection to Civil Servants in Service
Matters

List of cases (Indicative): P&O Navigation v. Secretary of State 1868; State of Rajasthan v.
Vidyawati; Kasturilal v. State of UP; Mohd. Moideen Sait v. Madras Corporation (burial
ground); Metropolitan Asylum District v. Hill (Small pox hospital); State of UP v. Tulsi Ram
(Issuing of warrant for wrong person); Saheli v. Police Commissioner; Rudul Shah v. State of
Bihar; E R Royappa v. State of Tamil Nadu 1973

[Allotted hours: 06 hours]

Reading Material

• S.N. Singh, Suspension of a Civil Servant Under the Court's Direction, Journal of the Indian
Law Institute, October-December 1987, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 567-573 (Access from the
Reading Material)
• Lekhsmi Priya S, ‘The Path Isn’t a Cakewalk’: A Firebrand IFS Officer On How to Battle
Corruption’, The Better India

Module VII – Remedial Tools for Addressing Public Grievance

Not all remedies availed by the citizens against administrative authorities or state officers are
judicial remedies. Some of the remedies are non-judicial. This module focuses on the varied
remedies that can be availed by the public to address their grievances. The module will address
the grievance redressal mechanisms available against the challenges hampering good
governances.

• Informal Methods of Settlement of Disputes

• Right to Information: Contemporary Issues and Challenges
• Ombudsman - Lokayuktas and Lokpal and Political Interference in
Administrative Bodies
• Use of Administrative Law for Good Governance, Transparency, and
Prevention of Corruption
• Application of Administrative Law on Independent Statutory Regulatory
Bodies
• Local Administration – Working of Municipal Corporations and Development
Authorities (Jurisdictions and Structure)

List of cases (Indicative): PUCL v. UoI 2003; UoI v. ADR 2002; R.S. Nayak v. State of
Maharashtra; R.S. Nayak v. A.R. Antulay
[Allotted hours: 08 hours]

Reading Material

• Amrita Johri, Anjali Bhardwaj & Shekhar Singh, The Lokpal Act of 2014: An Assessment,
Economic and Political Weekly, Feb. 1, 2014, Vol. 49, No. 5, pp. 10-13
• M. Sridhar Acharyulu, It’s been 15 years since RTI was passed, but is it really working?,
The Wire
• Srijan Shukla, ‘What if India’s cities gave mayors the power to tackle pandemic? Time for
a new urban model’ The Print
• Prerna Chatterjee, ‘Why Rahul Gandhi’s Mayoral Reforms are important for Indian cities,
Citizen Matters’

REFERENCES:–

MOOC Courses

• Administrative Law by Dr. Aneeda Jan (University of Kashmir) available at SWAYAM

• Right to information and Good Governnance by Prof. Sairam Bhatt (NLSIU Bangalore)
available at SWAYAM.

BOOK

• C. K. Takwani, Lectures on Administrative Law (6th ed., Eastern Book Company, 2017).
• C.K. Thakkar, Administrative Law (2nd ed., Eastern Book Company, 2012).
• I. P. Massey, Administrative Law (9th ed., Eastern Book Company, 2017).I. P. Massey,
Administrative Law (9th ed., Eastern Book Company, 2017).
• M. P. Jain & S. N. Jain, Principles of Administrative Law (7th ed., Lexis Nexis, 2017).
• H. W. R. Wade & C. F. Forsyth, Administrative Law (11th ed., Oxford University Press,
2014).
• S. P. Sathe, Administrative Law (7th ed., Lexis Nexis, 2010).
• Salman Khurshid, Siddharth Luthra et.al. (ed.) Judicial Review: Process, Powers and
Problems (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
• S.H. Bailey, Brian L. Jones & Alastair R. Mowbray, Cases, Materials and Commentaries
on Administrative Law (4th ed., Sweet and Maxwell, 2005).
• U.P.D. Kesari, Administrative Law (21st ed., Central Law Publications, 2016).