Administrative Law
Administrative Law: Meaning, Nature, Scope and Development
Understand administrative law through its meaning, sources, scope, historical growth and role in controlling modern public administration.
Quick answer
Administrative law governs how public authorities receive, use and remain accountable for powers that affect individuals and communities.
What administrative law governs
The subject focuses on public administration in action, from making rules and granting licences to deciding benefits and imposing regulatory sanctions.
Public power
Administrative law regulates ministries, departments, local bodies, regulators, tribunals and other authorities exercising statutory or public functions.
Three recurring questions
Every problem asks whether the authority possessed the power, followed the required procedure and used the power for a lawful and rational purpose.
Main sources
The Constitution, statutes, delegated legislation, binding judgments, statutory rules and recognised principles of fairness together shape the field.
Public rather than private law
The focus is legality of public action. Contract and tort may still matter where government purchases goods, employs people or causes compensable harm.
Why the subject expanded
Modern government does more than maintain order, so wider administrative power requires faster decision-making and stronger legal accountability.
Welfare and regulation
Social security, education, health, infrastructure, markets and environmental protection require specialised agencies with continuing responsibilities.
Delegated rules
Legislatures set policy while administrators fill technical detail through rules, regulations, notifications and schemes within statutory limits.
Administrative adjudication
Tribunals and authorities decide specialised disputes, but independence, fair hearing, reasons and constitutional review remain essential.
Judicial review
Courts review legality, fairness and rationality rather than routinely replacing an administrator's policy choice with their own.
Landmark cases
Learn the facts, the rule and why the case matters. The citation alone will not strengthen an answer.
Rai Sahib Ram Jawaya Kapur v. State of Punjab
AIR 1955 SC 549Facts: Punjab adopted a policy under which approved school textbooks were prepared and published through the government, affecting private publishers already operating in that market.
Legal question: Could the executive carry on the textbook business without a specific statute, and what limits controlled its action?
Held: Executive power is broad within the constitutional and legislative field, but it remains subject to the Constitution, enacted law and protected private rights.
Reasoning: Executive power extends across the relevant legislative field and does not always need prior legislation, but it remains subject to the Constitution, existing law and protected private rights.
Use in an answer: Use it to explain the nature and legal limits of executive administration.
Read the judgmentA.K. Kraipak v. Union of India
(1969) 2 SCC 262Facts: A senior forest officer was both a candidate for selection to the Indian Forest Service and a member of the board participating in the selection process.
Legal question: Did the formally administrative character of selection exclude natural justice and the rule against bias?
Held: The line between administrative and quasi-judicial power is thin, and fairness controls can apply whenever an administrative decision seriously affects rights or interests.
Reasoning: No. The boundary between administrative and quasi-judicial action is thin, and fairness applies where a decision affects interests and requires protection against biased power.
Use in an answer: Use it for the modern shift from labels toward the effect of public decisions.
Read the judgmentHow to write this answer in an exam
- Define administrative law in terms of public power.
- Identify its constitutional, statutory and judicial sources.
- Explain growth through welfare, regulation and expertise.
- Map rule-making, adjudication, discretion and review.
- Conclude with legality and fair administration.
Quick revision
- The subject controls public administration.
- Power needs constitutional or legal authority.
- Procedure and purpose matter.
- Modern regulation expanded administration.
- Courts review legality, not routine merits.
Test yourself
- Which bodies exercise administrative power?
- Why did the welfare state expand administrative law?
- What are the three recurring legality questions?
Frequently asked questions
Is administrative law contained in one statute?
No. It comes from the Constitution, many enabling statutes, delegated rules, judgments and general principles such as fairness and reasoned decision-making.
Does administrative law apply only to government departments?
No. It can also govern regulators, tribunals, local bodies, statutory corporations and some private bodies performing legally enforceable public duties.