Delegated legislation in India with special reference to local bodies in the state of Punjab an analytical study

Abstract

The Constitution of India declared it a social welfare state196 and the provision of Part III and Part IV197 made it obligatory for the state to look after the myriad needs of its citizens from womb to tomb. This continuous enlargement of state activities and ever-increasing burden had compelled the legislature to delegate some of its functions to the executive. This process of transferring legislative power to the executive is called delegated legislation. But, sometimes it is asserted that the legislature must normally discharge its primary legislative function itself and it cannot abdicate its legislative power. These conflicting views198 give rise to the problem of delegated legislation and its constitutionally. Therefore the research problem revolves around the constitutional validity and permissible limits of delegated legislation along with its control mechanism. Secondly, the study deals with the application of the device of delegated legislation to local bodies. The study aims to examine the nature, scope and extent of the delegation of powers by the appropriate legislature in favour of local bodies so as to transform these bodies into the third tier of the government. And finally, the research deals with the analytical study of local bodies in the state of Punjab particularly in the context of delegation of powers in the present structure of local bodies existing in the state. newline