Definition, Nature & Scope of Administrative Law; Sources — Administrative Law Notes

Definition, Nature & Scope of Administrative Law; Sources

In 1885 an Oxford professor, writing about the English constitution, declared that England had no administrative law at all — and meant it as a compliment. Barely a century later the same subject had become, in a famous judicial phrase, “the most outstanding legal development of the 20th century.” What changed? The State stopped merely policing its citizens and started serving them — and a body of law had to grow up to keep that vast new service-power under control.

What is Administrative Law?

Start with the everyday picture. A ration-shop licence is cancelled; a factory is ordered to shut; a government servant is dismissed; a slum is marked for clearance. In every case an official, not a court and not Parliament, has made a decision that hits a citizen. Administrative law is the branch of public law that answers three questions about such decisions: What power did the official have? Did they stay within it? And what can the citizen do if they did not?

More formally, administrative law is the law relating to the powers and procedures of administrative agencies — it fixes the limits of their power, prescribes the manner in which they must exercise it (fair procedure, natural justice), and provides the citizen with remedies (writs, appeals, compensation) when power is abused. It is not a single code. It is a set of principles, some laid down by statute and most built case-by-case by the courts.

Notice what it is not. It is not a mere description of which ministry does what. It is not the internal manual of a department. It is the control mechanism — the law that stands over the administration and keeps it legal.

The nature of administrative law can be captured in a few lines:

It is a branch of public law (State vs citizen), not private law (citizen vs citizen).
It is judge-made in the main — courts developed natural justice, the ultra vires doctrine and the grounds of judicial review; statutes filled gaps later.
It is functional, not codified — it grows with the functions of government, so it is never “finished”.
Its central concern is the control of discretionary power — the freedom the law leaves an official to choose.

The scope of administrative law — what falls inside it — is usually explained under four heads. Learn these four; they are the skeleton of the whole subject:

The powers of the administration — the rule-making power (delegated legislation, Unit 2), the deciding power (administrative adjudication, Unit 3) and the purely executive power.
The limits on those powers — the constitutional limits, the parent Act, and doctrines like ultra vires.
The procedure the administration must follow — chiefly the principles of natural justice.
The remedies of the citizen — writs under Articles 32 and 226, statutory appeals, tribunals, compensation and the Ombudsman.

Sources of administrative law in India — where the rules actually come from:

The Constitution — Articles 32, 226, 227 (judicial review), Article 14 (equality, the anchor of the rule of law), Article 311 (protection of civil servants), Articles 323A–323B (tribunals).
Statutes — parent Acts that create authorities and delegate power (e.g. the Advocates Act, municipal Acts, the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952).
Delegated legislation — the rules, regulations and bye-laws the administration itself makes.
Judicial decisions (case law) — the largest source: natural justice, ultra vires, Wednesbury unreasonableness, state liability, all judge-made.
Ordinances and administrative directions — subordinate to the above.

Definition (a working judicial-academic statement): “Administrative law is that branch of public law which deals with the organisation and powers of administrative and quasi-administrative agencies and prescribes the principles and rules by which an official action is reached and reviewed in relation to individual liberty and freedom.”

In Simple Terms: Administrative law is the law that (a) tells the administration what power it has, (b) tells it how to use that power fairly, and (c) gives the citizen a way to fight back when the power is misused.

flowchart TD
    ROOT["Administrative Law<br/>controls official power"]:::root
    ROOT --> A["POWERS<br/>rule-making · adjudication · executive"]:::leaf
    ROOT --> B["LIMITS<br/>Constitution · parent Act · ultra vires"]:::leaf
    ROOT --> C["PROCEDURE<br/>natural justice"]:::leaf
    ROOT --> D["REMEDIES<br/>writs (Arts 32/226) · tribunals · compensation"]:::leaf
    classDef root fill:#FFF8DC,stroke:#000,stroke-width:1px,color:#000;
    classDef leaf fill:#E6F3FF,stroke:#1E3A8A,color:#000;
    linkStyle default stroke:#888,stroke-width:1px;

🧩 WORKED EXAMPLE — Is this a question of administrative law?

Facts. A Regional Transport Officer refuses B a stage-carriage permit. B says he was never told why, and never given a chance to be heard.

Rule. Administrative law asks three things of any official decision: was there power (the parent Motor Vehicles Act gives the RTO permit power — yes); were the limits respected; and was fair procedure followed.

Apply. The existence of power is not in doubt. The complaint is about how the power was used — no reasons, no hearing. That is a natural-justice question, which lives squarely inside administrative law.

Conclusion. Yes — this is a classic administrative-law dispute, and B’s remedy is a writ of certiorari to quash the refusal for breach of natural justice.

Case Laws

Ridge v Baldwin (1964) — revived natural justice as a general control on administrative power; a landmark in the growth of the subject.
A.K. Kraipak v Union of India (1969) — the line between administrative and quasi-judicial functions is thin; fairness controls both.
Maneka Gandhi v Union of India (1978) — Article 21 procedure must be fair, just and reasonable; the high-water mark of judicial control over the administration.

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