ADMINISTRATIVE
LAW
DR. PRIYANKA GHAI
SOURCES OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
1. Constitution of India
2. Acts & Statutes
3. Ordinances
4. Rules
5. Regulations
6. Orders
7. Directions
8. By-Laws
9. Schemes & Notifications
10. Judicial Decisions
11. Conditional Legislation & Administrative Directions
Constitution of India: The Constitution of
India is the supreme governing body. We
observe that there are various areas such as
the fundamental rights, writs, directive
principles of state policy, executive,
legislative and judiciary, position of members
of union public commission, tribunals etc.,
which form the basis of rule-making. All the
legislative actions of the administration have
been expressly brought by the Constitution
within the purview of Article 13 by defining
‘Law’ as including ‘order’, ‘bye-law’, ‘rule’ and
‘notification’ etc. having the force of law. All
these features of the Constitution influence
Acts and Statutes: There are various laws such as Companies
Law, Contract Act, Administrative Tribunal Act, Ombudsman Act,
Lokpal and Lokayukta Act which acts as a source of legislation.
Ordinances: When the parliament is not in session, the executive
branch under Articles 123 and 213 is given the permission to
make the ordinances.
Rules: It is defined under the General Clauses Act, 1897. It is the
rule made in the exercise of power conferred by any enactment. It
may be applicable to a particular individual or general public.
Regulations and circulars: It signifies that the decisions,
orders and Acts of the government are made known to
public. In the sphere of the administrative rule making, it
means or it is related to the situation where power is
given to fix the date for the enforcement of an Act. This
can also be related to the exemptions from the rate fixing
and prices.
Orders: It covers various types of legislative and quasi-
judicial decisions. It may be specific or general. Specific
orders refer to the administrative actions. General
administrative rule making forms a part of such rule
making source.
Directions: It is an expression of the
administrative rule making under the
authority of law or the rule made there under.
These may be mandatory or
recommendatory.
By-Laws: Rules made by semi-governmental
authorities established under the Acts of the
legislature.
Schemes and Notifications: It refers to
the situation where the law authorizes
the administrative agencies to lay down
a framework within which the detailed
Judicial Decisions: The landmark judgements such as
Puttaswamy case [Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. UOI (2017) 10
SCC 1] related to privacy, Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India,
AIR 1978 SC 597 related to right to travel abroad, Vishakha
v. State of Rajasthan [(1997) 6 SCC 241] related to the
prevention of sexual harassment of women at workplace, MC
Mehta v. Union of India, AIR 1978 SC 1086 related to the
control of the environmental pollution, PUCL v. UOI AIR
1982 SC 1473 related to the rights of workers who are
working in mines form the basis of the establishment of the
‘tests’ which may be used to clarify the scope of the provisions
of the law and its interpretation. This includes the ‘Right to
Food’ as well.
Relationship between Administrative
Law and Constitutional Law
In the present era, administrative law is recognized as a
separate branch of legal studies but at the same time, the
disciplines of the constitutional administrative law may
overlap with each other at a certain place which is known as
water shades in administrative law. It can include the whole
control mechanism provided in the constitution for the
control of administrative authorities which is Articles 32, 136,
267, 227 and 311. Administrative law deals with the
organizations, powers, functions, and duties of
administrative authorities, on the other hand, constitutional
law deals with the general principles relating to the
organization and powers of various organs of the state and
the relationship of these organs with the individuals.
SIMILARITIES
• Both are species of public law. This in other words
means that both deals with the government and
individuals and the relations among them and the
institution of the government.
• Both deals with the distribution and the exercise of the
governmental powers and functions. Where the
constitutional law ends, the administrative law begins.
• Both are concerned with imposing boundaries and the
accountability on those that exercise the governmental
powers.
• Their application is founded on the constitutional
study of the administrative law involves copious
reference of the constitutional law.
• Both of them are concerned with the human rights
issues.
• Both of them rely on the statutes and case laws for
their principles and operations.
• The principles of both are enforced by the same
institutions i.e., courts, law enforcement agents
etc.
DISSIMILARITIES
Constitutional Law Administrative law
The ultimate law of any nation- Administrative law is ancillary to the
state is Constitutional law. ultimate law.
Deals with the organs of the Deals with the actual functioning of
State and its structure the organs of the State.
It has a wide scope and deals It has a narrow scope and only deals
with the powers of the State, with the powers and functioning of
general principles of the administrative bodies
governance, and the
relationship between the
citizens and the State.
It is codified into a single text in It is not codified. There might be
countries with a written hundreds of administrative laws.
constitution.
• Prof. S P Sathe stated that Administrative law is a
subset of Constitutional law, and all the concerns
related to Administrative law are considered to be
Constitutional law issues. This point out that
Constitutional law has a broad scope, with many
administrative laws accounting for a sizable
component of the Constitutional law. This is the
difference between Administrative law and
Constitutional law.
Droit Administratif
DICEY:
• There is no administrative law in England.
• He observed that the government officials exercised wide
discretionary powers.
• Dispute between government official and a private individual
was tried by administrative tribunals and the law applicable in
that case is not ordinary law.
• He believed that the system in France has conferred special
rights, privileges on government officials as against private
citizens. They are outside the jurisdiction of ordinary courts.
• He believed that administrative tribunals would
biased to the administrative actions.
• He thought that the French Droit Administratif is
administrative law. He focused on a single aspect
that is administrative adjudication.
• He was a great believer in ordinary courts and
transfer of judicial powers to any other agency
was not acceptable to him.
MEANING
• A body of rules which determine the organization,
powers and duties of public administration and regulate
the relation of the administration with the citizen of the
country.
• Independence of the administration from judicial
control. The ordinary court can’t exercise control over
administrative functioning.
• Administrative tribunals supervise administrative
functioning.
• It does not represent the rules and principles
enacted by the Parliament but the rules are
developed by the administrative courts.
• It regulates the relationship between Public
servant and citizens, public servant and public
servant, public servant and government.
CONCEPT
Conseil du Roi
Conseil d’Etat
Arrets Blanco
Tribunal des Conflicts
Counseil du Roi
• This body give advice to King in legal and
administrative matters.
• They also discharged judicial functions apart from
executive powers wherein it decided disputes between
great nobles.
• In 16th century there was an enormous increase in its
jurisdiction.
• It claimed cognizance of all manner of cases in which
the government was interested and assumed power to
withdraw cases, when it pleased from ordinary courts.
• After the revolution, steps taken- Seperation of
powers- to restrict the powers in the hand of executive
Counsil d’Etat
• Napolean Bonaparte- emphasized freedom for the administrative actions.
• He wanted an institution that can give relief to the people against the
exercise of the administration.
• In 1799 Counseil d’Etat was established. He is considered as father of
Droit Administatif.
• It was for resolving difficulties occurring in the course of the
administration. Later on it started exercising judicial powers in matters
involving administration.
• Through Minister it received complaints. It used to give advice to the
Minister.
• Not having the power to pronouncing judgments but represented
governments point of view.
Arrets Blanco
• The Blanco judgment of the Conflict Tribunal
delivered on 8th February, 1873.
• A young girl Agnes Blanco was run over and
injured by a wagon from state-run tobacco
factory.
• Her father took a legal action against workers
of the factory as well as State as the owner of
the factory.
• The question raised-which is the authority
either judicial or administrative authority has
• State is liable for the faults committed by its
agents and the administrative authority is
alone competent to hear it.
• This judgment settled that in all matters
involving administration, the jurisdiction of
the Conseil d’Etat would be final.
• The question of administrative liability
comes within the jurisdiction of
administrative courts and the liability would
was subject to special rules different from
those of civil law.
• Later on Conseil d’Etat started receiving complaints
from citizens and not through Minister.
• Highest administrative court and acts as the court of
appeal from all administrative tribunals.
• It has power the review decisions of all administrative
tribunals. It can supervise the form, content and grounds
of administrative decisions.
• It advice the government of France on the preparation
of bills and ordinances.
• It answers governments queries on legal affairs.
• It conducts studies on the request of the government
or through its own initiative regarding administrative
or public policy issues.
• Cases like damages for wrongful acts of
Government servants, personal claims of civil
servants against the State for wrongful dismissal or
suspension.
• It ensures that the French administration operates in
compliance with the law.
Tribunal des Conflicts
• It decides whether a matter should go
before the ordinary courts or tribunals.
• It has judges and civil servants in equal
numbers with the Minister of Justice as the
president. When the members of the
tribunal are equal on any matter then he
enters. (Veto Power)
Rules in Droit Adminstratif
• It does not involve in it the rules laid down by the Fremch
Parliament, it consist of rules developed ny the judges of the
administrative courts.
• It includes three series of rules:
• Rules dealing with administrative authorities and officials-
Appointment, dismissal, status, salary and duties.
• Rules dealing with the operation of public services to meet
the needs of citizens- Public officials or under their
supervision or private agencies.
• Rules dealing with administrative adjudication.
Three principles of Droit Administratif
Waline, French Jurist propounds three basic principles of
Droit Administratif:
• The power of administration to act suo-moto and impose
directly on the subject the duty to obey its decision.
• The power of
• administration to take decision and to execute them may
be exercised only within the ambit of law which protects
individual liberties against administrative arbitrariness.
• The existence of a specialized administrative
jurisdiction.
FEATURES
• Matters concerning the State and Administrative litigation-
Administrative Courts.
• In above said matter- Special rules developed by the administrative
courts are applied.
• Conflict of jurisdiction- Tribunal des Conflict.
• Conseil d’Etate is the supreme administrative court.
• It protects government officials from the control of the ordinary courts.
• The French Droit Administratif has sought to draw a balance between
private rights and public benefits. On the one hand, it maintains and
supports administrative powers, on the other, it has developed a
mechanism for protecting individual rights and civil liberties against
possible attacks by public authorities.
