Unit II — Delegated Legislation

“The Legislature cannot abdicate its essential legislative function; it may delegate only after laying down the policy and the guiding principle.” — the doctrine of excessive delegation

Delegated Legislation & the Limits of Delegation

Delegated (subordinate) legislation is law made by an executive/administrative authority under powers conferred by the legislature in a parent (enabling) Act — rules, regulations, bye-laws, notifications and orders. It grew because the legislature lacks the time, technical expertise and flexibility to legislate on every detail, and because emergencies and experiments demand quick, adaptable law-making.

The crucial limit is the doctrine of excessive delegation: the legislature may delegate the power to fill in details but must itself lay down the legislative policy and standard; it cannot delegate its essential legislative function (the determination of policy). The leading authority is In re Delhi Laws Act (1951), refined in Hamdard Dawakhana v. Union of India (1960) — where a power to extend an Act to “any other disease” with no guiding standard was struck down — and contrasted with the US “intelligible principle” test of J.W. Hampton, Jr. & Co. v. United States (1928).

flowchart TD
    A["Is the delegation VALID?"]:::root
    A --> B["Did Parliament lay down<br/>POLICY + STANDARD?"]:::q
    B --> C["Yes -> valid delegation<br/>(only details left to executive)"]:::yes
    B --> D["No guiding principle -><br/>EXCESSIVE DELEGATION (void)"]:::no
    A --> E["Essential legislative function<br/>delegated / abdicated? -> void"]:::no

    classDef root fill:#FFF8DC,stroke:#333,color:#000;
    classDef q fill:#E6F3FF,stroke:#1E3A8A,color:#000;
    classDef yes fill:#E6FFE6,stroke:#1E7A1E,color:#000;
    classDef no fill:#FFE6E6,stroke:#8A1E1E,color:#000;
    linkStyle default stroke:#888,stroke-width:1px;

Control over Delegated Legislation & Administrative Directions

Sub-delegation is governed by the maxim delegatus non potest delegare — a delegate cannot further delegate unless the parent Act expressly or by necessary implication permits it. Administrative directions are instructions issued by superiors to guide discretion; they are generally not enforceable in law and confer no legal right (being non-statutory), unless they are issued under a statutory power or have acquired the force of law.

✏️ Sample Solved Problem (IRAC Method)

Problem: A statute lets the General Manager appoint and dismiss employees earning below a certain wage, and bars dismissal by an authority subordinate to the appointing authority. The GM frames a rule sub-delegating the power to the Assistant GM, who dismisses a low-wage driver. The driver challenges both the rule and his dismissal.

I — Issue

Whether the General Manager could sub-delegate the statutory power of dismissal to the Assistant General Manager, and whether the resulting dismissal is valid.

R — Rule

• Delegatus non potest delegare — a person to whom a power is delegated cannot further delegate it unless the parent Act authorises sub-delegation.
• A dismissal by an authority subordinate to the appointing authority, contrary to the statutory bar, is void (the principle in Barium Chemicals / Art. 311-type protections against dismissal by a subordinate authority).

A — Analysis

The decoy is administrative convenience — the GM is busy, so passing the function down looks sensible. But the statute vested the power in the GM and, crucially, forbade dismissal by anyone subordinate to the appointing authority. Sub-delegation to the Assistant GM, who is subordinate to the GM, offends both the delegatus maxim (no enabling provision permits the GM to sub-delegate) and the express statutory bar. The rule framed by the GM cannot enlarge his own powers beyond what the parent Act allows, so it is ultra vires; the dismissal that flows from it shares the same defect.

C — Conclusion

Both the sub-delegating rule and the dismissal are void. The GM had no authority to sub-delegate, and dismissal by the subordinate Assistant GM breached the statutory protection; the driver must be reinstated.

📄 The full bundle (₹199) has the complete Unit II — delegated legislation, the excessive-delegation doctrine, conditional legislation, sub-delegation, every mode of control and administrative directions — plus the Question Bank’s model answers to 14 solved delegation problems (pre-publication, consultation, sub-delegation, ultra vires bye-laws). Get Notes + Question Bank — ₹199