To what extent are the legislating powers of our Union government extending? We all know that there are three main organs in our Democracy as per Constitutional principles. They are Legislative, Executive and Judiciary and all three are independent bodies, although legislative and executive have slightly similar/or coordinative duties to perform in the parliamentary democratic country. Focusing on Legislature, it is important to question whether all our laws are enacted by the Union legislature, that is, the Parliament. If the answer is yes, then how does the union legislature know the issues of a remote village panchayat? Is it even possible in the world’s largest democratic country? This article will look into these questions and how Delegated legislation plays an important role in any country.

A Quick look at Legislature and Legislation:

Before diving into the concept of delegated legislation and its scope etc, let us take a quick look at the general understanding of Legislature and the process of Legislation. Legislation, in the words of Salmond, includes every will of the particular legislature and does not confine only to making rules of law. Generally, all functions performed by the legislature that is the parliament would become part of the legislation. In India, all the legislations or laws made by the Union and State legislatures would be termed as legislation irrespective of on what subject they enact the law. Specific features of Indian Legislative powers are the presence of Article 246 (Seventh Schedule of Indian Constitution) and the procedure of transition from a bill to an act under Article 107 of the constitution.

Delegated Legislation:

It is understood that the function of the executive is to execute the laws made by the legislature. Both are different and perform different functions. But, the same will not be applicable at all times, which will let the legislature delegate this law-making authority or rulemaking powers to some of the government officials or sub-ordinate legislative bodies. Here is where the executive body which is at the sub-ordinate level or the local stage will get the legislative duty of making rules to be performed and such legislations/rules enacted by these local bodies are called Delegated Legislations, that is, the legislative functions are delegated to these local bodies. In most cases, to be honest, the legislature which is at Union and state-level perform fewer role compared to local bodies who frame the rules, regulations for those people who are remote to the legislators at Union and state.
These delegations of power to make laws are provided to various administrative authorities, whose powers are also determined by the state legislatures through the legislation in the state Legislative assembly. Once such powers are conferred, the administrative body shall function and make rules within the framework determined. Apparently, all the statutes enacted shall confer rule-making power to these administrative bodies and agencies.

Scope of Delegated Legislation in India:

While looking at the delegation of legislative powers by the state legislatures, it is also important to know the reason for such delegation. This is because people elect their representatives to rule them through rules and sanctions, but delegated legislations are powers to administrative bodies, which mainly consist of Civil servants and All India services. A few of the factors which promoted the adoption of the concept of Delegated legislation are as follows.

• One main reason is to distribute loads of works delivered by State legislatures. In the words of MP Jain, the concept of state has evolved over the course of time and has enabled the concept of a welfare state. This welfare state, inevitably, requires the state to perform all its duties necessary to effectuate the welfare of the people, and one of such can be delivered through Lawmaking. So, It is clear that Delegation of powers would reduce such load of rulemaking and regulation.
• Another factor is time consumption, where the legislatures should deal with defining basic policies and principles, while the administration should deal with detailed rulemakings. As legislature finds it difficult to work on the details and it is complicated as well for the government. Thus, in such cases, the delegation would enable both the government as well the local administration to function with ease without loss of time.
• As per the requirements, the delegated legislation can be adjusted and creates flexibility in the area of Legislation. In the case of local issues with important matters such as labor issues, strikes, etc., it becomes very necessary that the administration has enough powers, including legislative powers.

Are these Powers Limited?

As mentioned already, the question now and still debatable is that, whether the Indian Constitution confers any limit on the power of the parliament or state legislature to delegate the rulemaking power on the executive or not? This is because few administrative officials have no background of being elected by the people. In order to answer the same, let us look into few cases laws as follows.

In Raj Narain v. Patna Administration case, the issue arose concerning section 3(1)(f) of the Patna Administration act, which allowed the Bihar government to extend the provisions of it to Patna subject to restrictions and modifications by the government. The government pulled out the section concerning the assessment of taxes from the act and just applied to Patna. Court held the same to be valid, but the notification was held invalid because it did not give the local people any chance of being heard.
In the case of Banarsi Das v. State of Madhya Pradesh, the court observed that it will not make it unconstitutional for the state if making rules and regulations relating to taxes and the rate of taxes, except making/enacting the Tax laws for the state, to be provided to the local administrative authorities.

Conclusion:

Having referred to the sources and the theories, it is clear that the policies and practices towards the welfare state would be inevitable if the powers are distributed evenly to the local administrative officials. This also ensures that people’s issues are heard without any delay and laws are enacted and enforced even faster while enabling the delegated legislations. India is itself an example of how delegated legislation works for the betterment of the welfare of the people at large.