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Implementation in Indian law

Thomas Paine in his pamphlet Common Sense quoted, THE LAW IS KING. For as in
absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law OUGHT to be King;
and there ought to be no other.
Rule of law can be traced back to Aristotle and has been championed by Roman jurists;
medieval natural law thinkers; Enlightenment philosophers such as Hobbes, Locke,
Rousseau, Montesquieu in their theory of social contracts and the American founders;
German philosophers Kant, Hegel and the nineteenth century advocates of the
rechtsstaat; and in this century such ideologically diverse figures as Hayek, Rawls,
Scalia, Jiang Zemin and Lee Kuan Yew. The term Rule of Law is derived from the
French phrase la principe de legalite(the principle of legality) which refers to a
government based on principles of law and not of men. It also means that power
should be exercised within the statutory ambit and purported exercise of it would not
just be ultra vires, but in a true sense of term arbitrary. According to A V Dicey
whenever there is discretion there is room for arbitrariness. Even in the most
autocratic form of ruling there is a legal framework according to which the
government works. In a monarch this concept developed to control the power of
arbitrary powers of the monarchs who claims to have divine powers. Same way in a
democracy it ensures that the holders of public policy must be able to justify publicly
that the exercise of powers is socially just and according to law.
Presently, the concept has altered into a new corollary stating that the holders of
public powers must be able to publicly justify that the exercise of power is legally valid
and socially just. It is the present day modernized name for natural law. In
jurisprudence, it was known as jus naturale by the Romans, law of god by the
medievalists. Coming ahead in time, Rousseau, Hobbes and Locke called it social
contract or natural law. The modern man refers to it as the rule of law
Efforts to specify the meaning of the Rule of Law commonly appeal to values and
purposes that the Rule of Law is thought to serve. First, the Rule of Law should protect
against anarchy and the Hobbesian war of all against all. Second, the Rule of Law
should allow people to plan their affairs with reasonable confidence that they can
know in advance the legal consequences of various actions. Third, the Rule of Law
should guarantee against at least some types of official arbitrariness.

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Diceys Concept Of Rule Of Law

In his book, the law and the constitution, published in the year 1885, Dicey attributed three
meanings to the doctrine of rule of law:
1. Supremacy Of Law: It implies the absolute power of law, dominance and the
supremacy of it. It is opposed to the influence of arbitrary power and wide
discretionary power. In Diceys words, wherever there is discretion, there is room for
arbitrariness and that in a republic no less than under a monarchy discretionary
authority on the part of the government must mean insecurity for legal freedom on
the part of its subjects.
2. Equality Before The Law: The law administered should be the ordinary rule of law
applicable to all the people equally irrespective of caste and creed or religion. This
doctrine has been also included in the Indian Constitution in the form of Article 14.
The excerpts of which can also be seen in Article 15. Dicey was of the view that, any
encroachment on the jurisdiction of the courts and any restrictions on the subjects
unimpeded access to them are bound to jeopardize his rights.
3. Predominance Of Legal Spirit: The Constitution is not the source but the
consequence of the rights of the individuals. Here, Dicey emphasized on the role of
the courts. Without an authority to protect and enforce the rights conferred upon
citizen, their inclusion in a document etc. is of little value. Mere inclusion is not
authoritative and its provisions might be abridged, trampled or overlooked.
Adoption Of Rule Of Law In India And Supreme Court Judgments:
Fundamental rights enshrined in part III of the constitution is a restriction on the law
making power of the Indian Parliament. It includes freedom of speech, expression,
association, movement, residence, property, profession and personal liberty. In its
broader sense the Constitution itself prescribes the basic legal system of the country.
To guarantee and promote fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens and the
respect for the principles of the democratic State based on rule of law. The popular
habeas corpus case, ADM Jabalpur v. Shivakant Shukla is one of the most important
cases when it comes to rule of law. In this case, the question before the court was
whether there was any rule of law in India apart from Article 21. This was in context
of suspension of enforcement of Articles 14, 21 and 22 during the proclamation of an
emergency. The answer of the majority of the bench was in negative for the question
of law. However Justice H.R. Khanna dissented from the majority opinion and
observed that Even in absence of Article 21 in the Constitution, the state has got no
power to deprive a person of his life and liberty without the authority of law. Without
such sanctity of life and liberty, the distinction between a lawless society and one
governed by laws would cease to have any meaning
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Applied to the powers of the government, this requires that every government
authority which does some act which would otherwise be a wrong (such as taking a
mans land), or which infringes a mans liberty (as by refusing him planning
permission), must be able to justify its action as authorized by law -and in nearly every
case this will mean authorized directly or indirectly by Act of Parliament.
The secondary meaning of rule of law is that the government should be conducted
within a framework of recognized rules and principles which restrict discretionary
powers. The Supreme Court observed in Som Raj v. State of Haryana that the absence
of arbitrary power is the primary postulate of Rule of Law upon which the whole
constitutional edifice is dependant. Discretion being exercised without any rule is a
concept which is antithesis of the concept.
The third meaning of rule of law highlights the independence of the judiciary and the
supremacy of courts. It is rightly reiterated by the Supreme Court in the case Union of
India v. Raghubir Singh that it is not a matter of doubt that a considerable degree that
governs the lives of the people and regulates the State functions flows from the
decision of the superior courts.
Although, complete absence of discretionary powers, or absence of inequality are not
possible in this administrative age, yet the concept of rule of law has been developed
and is prevalent in common law countries such as India. The rule of law has provided a
sort of touchstone to judge and test the administrative law prevailing in the country at
a given time. Rule of law, traditionally denotes the absence of arbitrary powers, and
hence one can denounce the increase of arbitrary or discretionary powers of the
administration and advocate controlling it through procedures and other means. Rule
of law for that matter is also associated with supremacy of courts. Therefore, in the
ultimate analysis, courts should have the power to control the administrative action
and any overt diminution of that power is to be criticized. The principle implicit in the
rule of law that the executive must act under the law and not by its own fiat is still a
cardinal principle of the common law system, which is being followed by India . In the
common law system the executive is regarded as not having any inherent powers of its
own, but all its powers flow and emanate from the law. It is one of the vital principles
playing an important role in democratic countries like India. There is a thin line
between judicial review and judicial activism. Rule of law serves as the basis of judicial
review of administrative action. The judiciary sees to it that the executive keeps itself
within the limits of law and does not overstep the same. Thus, judicial activism is kept
into check. However there are instances in India where judiciary has tried to infringe
upon the territory of the executive and the legislature. A recent example of this would
be the present reservation scenario for the other backward classes. The judiciary
propagated that the creamy layer should be excluded from the benefits of the
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reservation policy, whereas the legislature and the executive were against it.
As mentioned before Diceys theory of rule of law has been adopted and incorporated
in the Indian Constitution. The three arms judiciary, legislature and executive work in
accordance with each other. The public can approach the high courts as well as the
Supreme Court in case of violation of their fundamental rights. If the power with the
executive or the legislature is abused in any sorts, its malafide action can be quashed
by the ordinary courts of law. This can be said so since it becomes an opposition to the
due process of law. Rule of law also implies a certain procedure of law to be followed.
Anything out of the purview of the relevant law can be termed as ultra vires.
No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberties except according to
procedure established by law or of his property save by authority of law. The
government officials and the government itself is not above the law. In India the
concept is that of equality before the law and equal protection of laws. Any legal
wrong committed by any person would be punished in a similar pattern. The law
adjudicated in the ordinary courts of law applies to all the people with equal force and
bidingness. In public service also the doctrine of equality is accepted. The suits for
breach of contract etc against the state government officials, public servants can be
filed in the ordinary courts of law by the public.
In Chief settlement Commr; Punjab v. Om Prakash , it was observed by the supreme
court that, In our constitutional system, the central and most characteristic feature is
the concept of rule of law which means, in the present context, the authority of law
courts to test all administrative action by the standard of legality. The administrative
or executive action that does not meet the standard will be set aside if the aggrieved
person brings the matter into notice.
In India, the meaning of rule of law has been much expanded. It is regarded as a part
of the basic structure of the Constitution and, therefore, it cannot be abrogated or
destroyed even by Parliament. The ideals of constitution; liberty, equality and
fraternity have been enshrined in the preamble. Constitution makes the supreme law
of the land and every law enacted should be in conformity to it. Any violation makes
the law ultra vires. In Kesavanda Bharti vs. State of Kerala (1973) - The Supreme Court
enunciated the rule of law as one of the most important aspects of the doctrine of
basic structure. In Menaka Gandhi vs. Union of India - The Supreme Court declared
that Article 14 strikes against arbitrariness. In Indira Gandhi Nehru vs. Raj Narahr Article 329-A was inserted in the Constitution under 39th amendment, which
provided certain immunities to the election of office of Prime Minister from judicial
review. The Supreme Court declared Article 329-A as invalid since it abridges the basic
structure of the Constitution.
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In the case of Binani Zinc Limited Vs. Kerala State Electricity Board and Ors. (2009)
Justice S B sinha declare that It is now a well settled principle of law that the rule of
law inter alia postulates that all laws would be prospective subject of course to
enactment an express provision or intendment to the contrary. In the case of Gadakh
Yashwantrao Kankarrao v. Balasaheb Vikhe Patil the ratio laid down was If the rule of
law has to be preserved as the essence of the democracy of which purity of elections is
a necessary concomitant, it is the duty of the courts to appreciate the evidence and
construe the law in a manner which would subserve this higher purpose and not even
imperceptibly facilitate acceptance, much less affirmance, of the falling electoral
standards. For democracy to survive, rule of law must prevail, and it is necessary that
the best available men should be chosen as people's representatives for proper
governance of the country. This can be best achieved through men of high moral and
ethical values who win the elections on a positive vote obtained on their own merit
and not by the negative vote of process of elimination based on comparative demerits
of the candidates.
In the case of Sukhdev v. Bhagatram Mathew J. declared that Whatever be the
concept of the rule of law, whether it be the meaning given by Dicey in his "The Law of
the Constitution" or the definition given by Hayek in his "Road to Serfdom" and
"Constitution of liberty" or the exposition set-forth by Harry Jones in his "The Rule of
Law and the Welfare State", there is, as pointed out by Mathew, J., in his article on
"The Welfare State, Rule of Law and Natural Justice" in "Democracy, Equality and
Freedom," "substantial agreement is in juristic thought that the great purpose of the
rule of law notion is the protection of the individual against arbitrary exercise of
power, wherever it is found". It is indeed unthinkable that in a democracy governed by
the rule of law the executive Government or any of its officers should possess arbitrary
power over the interests of the individual. Every action of the executive Government
must be informed with reason and should be free from arbitrariness. That is the very
essence of the rule of law and its bare minimal requirement. And to the application of
this principle it makes not difference whether the exercise of the power involves
affection of some right or denial of some privilege."
In Secretary, State of Karnataka and Ors. v. Umadevi (3) and Ors a Constitution Bench of
this Court has laid down the law in the following terms:
Thus, it is clear that adherence to the rule of equality in public employment is a basic
feature of our Constitution and since the rule of law is the core of our Constitution, a
court would certainly be disabled from passing an order upholding a violation of
Article 14 or in ordering the overlooking of the need to comply with the requirements
of Article 14 read with Article 16 of the Constitution.
In the case of Amlan Jyoti Borooah Vs.State of Assam and Ors. It was held by S B Sinha
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that: Equity must not be equated with compassion. Equitable principles must
emanate from facts which by themselves are unusual and peculiar. A balance has to be
struck and the Court must be cautious to ensure that its endeavour to do equity does
not amount to judicial benevolence or acquiescence of established violation of
fundamental rights and the principles of Rule of law. Moreover, In the case of Bachan
Singh v. state of punjab Singh Justice Bhagwati has emphasized that rule of law
excludes arbitrariness and unreasonableness. To ensure this, he has suggested that it
is necessary to have a democratic legislature to make laws, but its power shoul not be
unfettered, and that there should be an independent judiciary to protect the citizens
against the excesses of executive and legislative power. In addition to this in P.
sambamurthy v. state of Andhra Pradesh the SC has declared a provision authorizing
the executive to interfere with tribunal justice as unconstitutional characterizing it as
violative of the rule of law which is clearly a basic and essential feature of the
constitution
Yet another case is of Yusuf Khan v. Manohar Joshi in which the SC laid down the
proposition that it is the duty of the state to preserve and protect the law and the
constitution and that it cannot permit any violent act which may negate the rule of
law.
Hence, it is quiet evident that the concept of rule of law is gaining importance and
attention and judicial efforts are made to make it more strong.
Critiques
The opposite of rule of law is rule of person. The rule of law is necessarily rule by men,
for the law is inert. Men are necessary to enforce the law, but all men are prone to
interpret the law through their own knowledge, interpretation, and ethical sense. At
best a set of laws are a well-intended guidebook for the application of justice by the
rule of men. In spite of an apparently enviable position of the subjects in almost all
the fields of industry, commerce, education, transport, banking, insurance etc. there is
interference by the administrative authorities with the actions of the individuals,
companies and other corporate and non corporate bodies, observes Justice
Ramaswamy. There is a large amount of discretion involved in the administrative
work. For e.g.: for the purpose of national planning the executive is armed with vast
powers in respect of land ceiling, control of basic industries, taxation, mobilization of
labour etc. Even Parliament passes acts which are opposed to personal liberty such as
preventive detention act or maintenance of Internal Security act 1971, national
security act 1980. Even the simplest thing like discriminate payment of employees can
be termed as inequality, as opposed to rule of law. The case Frank Anthony
Employees Union v. Union of India is concerned with discrimination in payment to
employees, which was held to violate the persons right to equality and unreasonable
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classification of pensioners was held to be arbitrary in the case Nakara v. Union of

India.
The main characteristic of the concept of rule of law is equality. This itself has been
criticized widely. the government possesses the inherent authority to act purely on its
own volition and without being subject to any checks or limitations. Total equality is
possible to prevail in general conditions, not only in India but in any country for that
matter. For e.g.:
No case can be filed against the Bureaucrats and Diplomats in India
No criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the
President, or the Governor of a state, in any court during his term of office. No process
for the arrest or imprisonment of the President, or the Governor of a state, shall issue
from any court during his term of office.
The privileges enjoyed by the members of parliament with respect to legal actions
against them.
There are separate tribunals for administrative cases.
Thus, on the basis of these points one can say that equality in India is not prevalent in
its concrete sense. The Diceys concept of rule of law has also been criticized. Law
changes with time. As the society evolves, even the law of the country should develop.
Some view the rule of law as nothing other than a tool of the powerful to maintain the
status quo in the legal system. The general consensus is that the status quo, far from
being neutral, serves to protect the powerful at the expense of the disempowered. This
lack of neutrality in the rule of law runs contrary to the ideal, traced to Aristotle, that
in light of the law every person should be equal; that it is one's humanity, not one's
status in society, that requires that laws be justly applied. More extreme critics claim
that "[t]he liberal paradigm has destroyed the rule of law." The rationale behind this
statement is that, considering the real state of the world, many equate the rule of law
with legality. However, this is a flawed equation as "[l]egality simply means that there
are laws and says nothing about the quality of those laws." Hence, there are many
lacunas in the concept of rule of law which servers the reason of non-implementation
of the concept properly.
Conclusion
The rule of law is an idea about law, justice, and morality. It considers what laws,
norms, rules, procedures, systems, and structures should be and what they should not
be. Norms should be proclaimed publicly by the peoples and/or their appropriate
representatives. Inherent in this formulation are three realities. One is that the law
governs people as well as the government itself. Next, persons should obey the law.
Third is that the norms we call law need to be obeyable - not only in the sense of being
known, knowable and predictable, but in the deepest sense of being just. It is a
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necessary element for democracy and good governance and also assist to facilitate
stability and peace. According to some, it may help prevent wars from occurring in the
first place. Moreover, Human rights can be considered as a check over the criticism of
rule of law i.e. absolutism and despotism. The rule of law in the Indian society has not
achieved the intended results is that the deeply entrenched values of
constitutionalism or abiding by the Constitution of India have not taken roots in the
society. Corruptions, Terrorism etc. are all antithesis to Rule of Law. In recent times,
common law traditions, the Constitution of India, and the perseverant role of the
judiciary have contributed to the development of rule of law. But on occasions we
have slipped back into government by will only to return sadder and wiser to the rule
of law when hard facts of human nature demonstrated the selfishness and egotism of
man and the truth of the dictum that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely. A few examples of how our judicial system has upheld the rule of law and
ensured justice is clearly seen in the creation of new avenues seeking remedies for
human rights violations through PIL pleas and promotion of genuine interventions by
the judiciary in the areas of bonded and child labour, prostitution, clean and healthy
environment etc. but on the darker side there have been vilations oof fundamenta
rights as well. For e.g. The discrimination of eunuchs based on their class and gender
makes the community one of the most disempowered groups in Indian societ Eunuchs
might have an accepted place in Indian society, but it is a place pretty much at the
bottom of the social heap making them not just a sexual but also a highly deprived
social minority. The recent example is of the singur incident a Division Bench of the
High Court comprising Honourable Chief Justice S S Nijjar and Honourable Justice
Pinaki Chandra Ghosh also took suo moto note of the incident.
it seems as if the Police Department which is under the control of the Home
Department is not even aware of the existence of Article 21 of the Constitution of
India..This Article specifically guarantees that no person shall be deprived of his
life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. Oblivious of
the aforesaid guarantee, the police has resorted to gun firing on a large crowd
protesting against the proposal to acquire their land. There was a total absence of
rule of law in west Bengal during this period. For a purposeful rule of law to exist in a
society, democracy is required and for a democratic state the prevalence of rule of law
is required. Thus, it can be concluded that democracy and rule of law are
interdependent and one cannot flourish without the other. India is worlds largest
democracy; however the prevalence of rule of law is generally under threat here. It is
imperative that efforts are made to further nurture and preserve a rule of law society
in India without which our fundamental credentials as a democracy will be seriously
undermine
Bibliography:
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Books:
1. Dicey: Law of the Constitution, 8th Ed
2. Shukla V. N.; THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA, Eastern Book Company, Lucknow,
2004
3. Dicey, A. V.; THE LAW AND THE CONSTITUTION, 1915
4. I.P. Massey, AMINISTRATIVE LAW
5. Dr. L M Singhvi, CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
6. Arvind Datar, COMMENTARY ON THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
Websites:
1. http://www.oycf.org/Perspectives/5_043000/what_is_rule_of_law.htm[1]
2. http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/l285-legal-position-of-Eunuchs.html[2]

The author can be reached at:[email protected]

Links
1. http://www.oycf.org/Perspectives/5_043000/what_is_rule_of_law.htm
2. http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/l285-legal-position-of-Eunuchs.html

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