Relationship

The relationship between the administrative law and constitutional law is not
very watertight, sometimes administrative law invades into the territory of
constitutional law, so it is very important for jurists, scholars and law students
to develop a proper understanding between the relationships between these
two. Both constitutional law and administrative law are parts of the public law
which shows that constitutional law is the mother of administrative law and it
cannot be totally separated from each other.

In constitutional law, arbitrary action is limited by the norms and principles of

administrative law of fairness, reasonable and justness. Administrative law
deals with the organizations, powers, functions, and duties of administrative
authorities, on the other hand, constitutional law deals with the general
principles relating to the organization and powers of various organs of the state
and the relationship of these organs with the individuals. The constitution
describes the various organs of the government at rest, while administrative law
describes them in motion. It may be pointed out that constitutional law deals
with the rights and administrative law focus on public needs.

It is a necessity of time to draw a line of between these two laws in order to

define the territory of the functioning of the jurisdiction of both the laws.

Importance
The doctrine of water shades is very important as it gives a base to establish a
line of proper demarcation of the proper boundaries for the functioning of both
the laws. It defines the relationship between the constitutional law and
Administrative law which was defined by various English authors like Dicey and
Holland which is already discussed in previous chapter
. Their definition clearly states that the laws are dependent and interconnected
to each other.

Reasons
There are various reasons and the need for the growth of the administrative
law. With the passage of time and circumstances, the needs of the people and
state are also changing therefore, the legislature makes the administrative law
as a separate legal discipline. Administrative law controls the arbitrary action of
the legislative authority which is very essential for the protection of public rights
and duties.

The role of government is also changing with the passage of time. In developing
countries like India, the role of government is wider because it acts as a
provider instead of facilitator and regulator. Today, the expectations of the
people from the government are very high. So, the role of government is not
only to protect the people from external aggression and internal disturbances
but also to take care of every citizen from the mother’s womb to grave.
Therefore, the development and the growth of administrative became the
backbone of modern political philosophy. Hence, there is a great need to
separate administrative law from constitutional law because it is the demand
and need of the people and the state but still administrative law and
constitutional law cannot be completely separated from each other because they
overlap at certain places which are known as water shades in administrative
law. It contains various provisions and mechanism of constitutional law which
shows that constitutional law is the mother of administrative law and so a child
cannot be separated from his mother completely. In today’s world, there is no
need of government to just define the rights of the individual but there is a
need for solving the problem of public. The government has to come forward to
actively protect the weaker section of the society rather than defining the rights
which are already written in the Indian constitution. So these needs imply the
growth of administrative law and process.

Today everyone feels that it is the duty of the government to resolve the
conflict and maintain peace and harmony between the individuals and state
which is very essential for the overall development of the nation. The production
and distribution of resources according to the requirements of the people and
the state is also a great responsibility of the good government, so this again has
led to the growth of administrative law and process.

In modern times, the development of science and technology and control over it
is also considered as the responsibility of the government. Due to the
development of science and technical industries, various problems may arise
such as unemployment, over-exploitation of natural resources, haphazard
urbanization so this multi-dimensional problem cannot be solved except with
the growth of administrative law.

The main reason behind the development and growth of Administrative process
and law can be the inadequacy of the traditional type of courts and lawmaking
organs which are not able to give the performance which is required in the
present time for the proper functioning of welfare and functional government. In
modern times, there are needs of technical nature of legislation, flexibility with
quick action and the quality performance of the government. The traditional
legislative organs cannot pass the quality and quantity of laws which are
required for modern times. So it is also a great reason behind the growth and
development of Administrative laws and the legislative process. Administrative
agencies were also required to maintain the record of facts, evidence and the
decision.

Historical growth
Administrative law has become the most eminent feature of the government in
today’s era and at the same time, it is also the most ancient. Administrative law
was alive even in ancient times. The history of the same can be traced back to
the Mauryas and Guptas who have a well-organized and centralized
administration. The rule of Dharma was in action. Every man of the monarch
observed this rule and no one claimed immunity. It was said that the
administration could only be run on the principles accepted by dharma and thus
was followed by the kings and his officers. Principles such as natural justice and
fairness were few of the power which was in the ambit of dharma. The
parameter of dharma was wider than the rule of law or due process of law.

Administrative law also existed in England but there it was not adopted as a
separate branch of legal discipline until the emergence of the 20th century.

“There was no administrative law in England”.

“In England, we know nothing of Administrative law and we wish to know

nothing about it”.

“During the last thirty years due to the increase of duties and authority of
English officials some elements of Droit have entered in the law of England”.

“Unfortunately, Dicey misunderstood the scope and ambit of Administrative

Law. While studying the rule of law, he excluded altogether administrative law
and a special system of administrative courts”.

“The study of Administrative law has to suffer a lot because of Dicey’s

conservative approach”.

“It may truly now be said that we have a developed system of administrative
law”.
So, from the above discussion, we can conclude that according to some authors
there was no existence of Administrative Law in England while some other
authors or scholars have the view that there is an existence of Administrative
law in England. Before the emergence of the 20th century, the Administrative
law existed in England but it was not adopted and accepted as a separate
branch of law.

Expansion
Administrative law came into existence for fulfilling the needs and the demands
of the people and state. So, due to this reason both Constitutional law and
Administrative law are separated from each other. Though they still overlap at
certain places and cannot be completely separated from each other because the
origin of Administrative law exists in Constitutional law. There is a need for this
law as a separate legal discipline to control the arbitrary action of administrative
authority and protect the rights of an individual and public at large. Its essence
is found in every branch of law, which cannot be ignored.

Sources
For a better understanding of Administrative law and its functions, it is
necessary to know about the sources of it. In India, the Administrative law is
the part of ordinary law of land. The sources of Administrative law in India are
different from other countries like America and England.

In America, the sources of Administrative law are statutes, common laws, and
implied powers of the administration.

In England, the sources of this law are statutes, precedent, subordinate

legislation, and significant case laws.
Constitutional law is the most important source of Administrative law in India. It
is the origin and soul of Administrative law. In other words, we can say that
constitutional law is the mother of Administrative law. So, without a
constitution, Administrative law cannot perform its functions and work properly
because it totally depends on the soul of our country’s constitutional law.
Statutes are also a great source of this law. It also came from the constitution.
State legislature gives the lawmaking power to parliament. The power for
administration have been even guaranteed under statues and all such powers
have to conform to the statutory pattern.

The ordinance is also a good source of this law. It empowers the President and
Governor to promulgate during the recess of parliament under Article 123 and
during the recess of state legislature under Article 213 respectively. This
provision brings flexibility on the level of union and the state to make laws
which are necessary for the emergency situations and circumstances in which
certain laws and acts declared void by courts of law. The Chief Executive has
the great ordinance making power but it cannot be unlimited. Ordinances can
be issued by the Governor on the advice of Council of Ministers. There are a
need and the requirements of approval for the confirmation of ordinance.

In the case of  Bank nationalisation case, the Hon’ble Supreme Court held that:

“If an ordinance is made on collateral grounds then it can be challenged before

the Supreme Court”.

Later on in S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, the Supreme Court has held that
proclamation of emergency on ground of failure of constitutional machinery
under Article 356 is subject to judicial review. Accordingly, Presidential Rule in
certain states was held to be unconstitutional.

Conclusion
So, the conclusion of this Article is that the “Watersheds” is the area where both
the laws overlap with each other. In present time Administrative law is
recognized as a separate and independent legal discipline from Constitutional
law but in reality, it is not so. There are various provisions and mechanism of
constitutional law which deals with the administrative law and in the same
manner, some functions and works of administrative law which are totally
dependent on Constitutional law. So in this way, they are interlinked to each
other and they cannot be separated completely. In other words, we can say that
watersheds work as a bridge between the two laws. This new law came into
existence on the needs and demand of the time and circumstances. It controls
the arbitrary action of legislative authority and protects the rights of the public.
There are various sources of this law in which Constitutional is the main.
Administrative law is nothing without the constitution as its origin is deeply
rooted in the womb of the constitution.

Constitutional and administrative laws are the areas of law which establish and
regulate the institutions of government within states. They also encompass the
internal governance of supranational legal orders. They are increasingly
concerned with the relationship between internal and external legal norms and
the interaction between multiple layers of government within and beyond
states.

Relationship between constitutional and administrative law in India:

Both the constitutional and administrative law is a part of the public law in the
modern State. It is logically impossible to distinguish between administrative
law from constitutional law and all attempts to do so are artificial. Till recently,
the subject of administrative law was dealt with & discussed in the books of
constitutional law and no separate & independent treatment was given to it.

Many definitions of administrative law, was included in constitutional law.

According to Holland, the constitutional law describes the various organs of the
government at rest while administrative law describes them in motion.
Therefore according to this view, the structure of the legislative and executive
comes within the preview of the constitutional law but their functioning comes
within the sphere of administrative law.

On one hand administrative law deals with the organization, function, powers
and duties of administrative authorities while constitutional law deals with the
general principles relating to the organization and powers of the various organs
of the state and their mutual relationships and relationship of these organs with
the individuals.

In other words constitutional law deals with fundamental while administrative

law deals with details. It may also be pointed out that the constitutional law
deals with the rights and administrative law lays emphasis on public need. The
countries which have written constitutional law likewise India, the difference
between constitutional law and administrative law is not as nuclear as in
England.

In such countries the source of constitutional law is constitution while the

source of administrative law may be statutes, statutory instruments, precedents
and customs. India has a written constitution while the constitutional law deals
with the general principles relating to the organization and power of the
legislature, executive and the judiciary.

According to Mait Land, constitutional law deals with structure and the broader
rules which regulate the function while administrative law deals with the details
of those functions. The dividing line between the constitutional law and
administrative law is a matter of convenience because every researcher of
administrative law has to study some constitutional law.

The importance of administrative law has not been adequately appreciated by

governments, both centre as well as the states. Indian administrative law has
grown rather sporadically and unsystematically.

Thus in India the administrative action can be tested on the following points:

The action must have been taken in accordance with the rules and regulations.

The rules and regulations should be in accordance with the relevant statute.

The action, the rules, regulations must in accordance with the provisions of the
constitution.

If the constitution is amended, the amendment of the constitution should be in

accordance or conformity with the basic structure of the constitution.

The separate existence of administrative law is at no point of time disputed;

however, if one draws two circles of the two branches of law, at a certain place
they will overlap depicting their relationship and this area may be termed as
watershed in administrative law. In India, in the watershed one can include the
whole control mechanism provided in the Constitution for the control of
administrative authorities i.e. Articles 32, 136, 226, 227, 300 and 311.

It may include the directives to the State under Part IV. It may also include the
study of those administrative agencies which are provided for by the
Constitution itself under Articles 261, 263, 280, 315, 323-A and 324. It may
further include the study of constitutional limitations on delegation of powers to
the administrative authorities and also those provisions of the Constitution
which place fetters on administrative action i.e. fundamental rights.

Today administrative law is recognized as a separate, independent branch of the

legal discipline. The correct position seems to be that if one draws two circles of
administrative law and constitutional law at a certain place they may overlap
and this area may be termed as the watershed in administrative law.

Doctrine of water shades in administrative law:

The doctrine of water shades is very important as it gives a base to establish a

line of proper demarcation of the proper boundaries for the functioning of both
the laws. It defines the relationship between the constitutional law and
administrative law which was defined by various English authors like Dicey and
Holland. Their definition clearly states that the laws are dependent and
interconnected to each other.

Evolution of constitutional law and administrative law in India:

Administrative law has become the most eminent feature of the government in
today's era and at the same time; it is also the most in ancient periods.
Administrative law was alive even in ancient times. The history of the same can
be traced back to the Mauryas and Guptas who have a well-organized and
centralized administration.

The rule of Dharma was in action. Every man of the monarch observed this rule
and no one claimed immunity. It was said that the administration could only be
run on the principles accepted by dharma and thus was followed by the kings
and his officers. Principles such as natural justice and fairness were few of the
power which was in the ambit of dharma.
The parameter of dharma was wider than the rule of law or due process of law.
For a better understanding of administrative law and its functions, it is
necessary to know about the sources of it. In India, the Administrative law is
the part of ordinary law of land. The sources of administrative law in India are
different from other countries like America and England.

In America, the sources of Administrative law are statutes, common laws, and
implied powers of the administration.

In England, the sources of this law are statutes, precedent, subordinate

legislation, and significant case laws.

Constitutional law is the most important source of administrative law in India. It

is the origin and soul of administrative law. In other words, we can say that
constitutional law is the mother of Administrative law. So, without a
constitution, administrative law cannot perform its functions and work properly
because it totally depends on the soul of our countrys constitutional law.

Statutes are also a great source of this law. It also came from the constitution.
State legislature gives the lawmaking power to parliament. The powers for
administration have been even guaranteed under statues and all such powers
have to conform to the statutory pattern.

The ordinance is also a good source of this law. It empowers the President and
Governor to promulgate during the recess of parliament under Article 123 and
during the recess of state legislature under Article 213 respectively. This
provision brings flexibility on the level of union and the state to make laws
which are necessary for the emergency situations and circumstances in which
certain laws and acts declared void by courts of law.

The Chief Executive has the great ordinance making power but it cannot be
unlimited. Ordinances can be issued by the Governor on the advice of Council of
Ministers. There are a need and the requirements of approval for the
confirmation of ordinance.

In the Rustom Cavasjee Cooper v. Union Of India (Bank Nationalisation

case) {1}, the Honble Supreme Court held that:

an ordinance is made on collateral grounds then it can be challenged before the

Supreme Court.

Later on S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, {2} the Supreme Court has held that
proclamation of emergency on ground of failure of constitutional machinery
under Article 356 is subject to judicial review. Accordingly, Presidential Rule in
certain states was held to be unconstitutional.

Conclusion:
The relationship between constitutional law and administrative law is not very
emboldened to be seen with naked eyes but the fact remains that concomitant
points are neither so blurred that one has to look through the cervices of the
texts with a magnifier to locate the relationship. The aforementioned veracities
and illustrations provide a cogent evidence to establish an essential relationship
between the fundamentals of both the concepts. If doubts still persist, the very
fact that each author, without the exception of a single, tends to differentiate
between the two branches of law commands which create the hypothecation of
a huge overlap.

Constitutional and administrative law both govern the affairs of the state. Administrative
law, an area of law that gained early sophistication in France, was until well into this
century largely unrecognized in the United Kingdom as well as the United States. To the
early English writers on administrative law, there was virtually no difference between
administrative law and constitutional law. This is evident from the words of Keith: “It is
logically impossible to distinguish administrative from constitutional law and all
attempts to do so are artificial.” [1] Some jurists like Felix Frankfurter even went as far as
to call it “illegitimate and exotic”. [2]

The root of all confusion in the United Kingdom is its lack of a written constitution. In a
state with a written constitution, the source of constitutional law is the Constitution
while the sources of administrative law include statutes, statutory instruments,
precedents and customs [3] whereas in the United Kingdom, this distinction is not very
clear cut – it is in fact, quite blurred.

Due to this lack of clarity, it will be vital to observe the views of jurists and scholars on
the difference between administrative law and constitutional law. According to Holland,
constitutional law describes the various organs of the government at rest, while
administrative law describes them in motion. [4] Holland contends that the structure of
the executive and the legislature comes within the purview of constitutional law whereas
their functioning is governed by administrative law.

Jennings puts forward another view, which says that administrative law deals with the
organization, functions, powers and duties of administrative authorities while
constitutional law deals with the general principles relating to the organization and
powers of the various organs of the State and their mutual relationships and
relationship of these organs with the individual. [5] Simply put, constitutional law lays
down the fundamentals of the workings of government organs while administrative law
deals with the details.

The fundamental constitutional principle, inspired by John Locke, holds that “the
individual can do anything but that which is forbidden by law, and the state may do
nothing but that which is authorised by law”. [6] Administrative law is the chief method
for people to hold state bodies to account. People can apply for judicial review of
actions or decisions by local councils, public services or government ministries, to
ensure that they comply with the law. The first specialist administrative court was the
Conseil d’État set up in 1799, as Napoleon assumed power in France.

Whatever be the correct position, there always exists an area of overlap between
constitutional law and administrative law. In India, this corresponds to the whole
constitutional mechanism for the control of administrative authorities – Articles 32, 136,
226, 227, 300 and 311. [7] It can also include the study of administrative agencies
provided for in the Constitution itself. [8] Further, it may include the study of
constitutional limitations on delegation of powers to the administrative authorities and
also those provisions of the Constitution which restrict administrative action; for
example, the Fundamental Rights.

The objective and scope of this project will be to draw the relationship between
administrative law and constitutional law with respect to India and the Indian
Constitution. The researcher will attempt to articulate the doctrinal and contextual links
that exist between administrative law and constitutional law. The researcher will make
use of appropriate case laws, wherever necessary.

Chapter 1

Constitutional Law viewed through Administrative Eyes

Since the English Constitution is unwritten, the impact of constitutional law upon
administrative law in England is insignificant and blurred. As Dicey observes, the rules
which in other countries form part of a constitutional code are the result of the ordinary
law of the land in England. As a result, whatever control the administrative authorities
can be subjected to, if any, must be deduced from the ordinary law, as contained in
statutes and judicial decisions. [9] But, in countries having written constitutions, there is
an additional source of control over administrative action. In these countries there are
two sources or modes of exercising judicial control over the administrative agencies –
constitutional and non-constitutional. The written constitution imposes limitations upon
all organs of the body politic. [10] Therefore, while all authors attempt to distinguish the
scope of administrative law from that of constitutional law, they cannot afford to forget
not to mention that in a country having written constitution with judicial review, it is not
possible to dissociate the two completely. [11]

The acts of the executive or the administration are protected in India in various ways.
The legislative acts of the administration, i.e. statutory instruments (or subordinate
legislation) are expressly brought within the fold of Article 13 of the Constitution, by
defining “law” as including “order, bye-law, rule, regulation, notification” or anything
“having the force of law”. [12] As in all common law countries, a delegated legislation
can be challenged as invalid not only on the ground of being ultra vires the statute
which confers power to make it, but also on the additional ground that it contravenes
any of the fundamental rights guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution. [13]

A non-legislative and a purely administrative action having no statutory basis will be

void if it breaches any of those fundamental rights which set up limitations against any
State action. Thus a non-statutory administrative act may be void if it violates Article 14,
guaranteeing equal protection [14] ; Article 29 [15] or Article 30—guaranteeing minority
rights; Article 19—guaranteeing freedom of speech, association, etc. [16] ; and Article 16
—guaranteeing equality of opportunity in employment [17] . Thus the court would strike
down any administrative instruction or policy, notwithstanding its temporary nature, if it
operates as discriminatory, so as to violate any fundamental right of the person or
persons discriminated against. [18] Non-statutory administrative action will also be void
if its result affects a fundamental right adversely where the Constitution provides that it
can be done only by making a law. The most significant examples of such a case would
be actions affecting Article 19, 21 or 300-A.

An administrative act, whether statutory or non-statutory, will be void if it contravenes

any of the mandatory and justiciable provisions of the Constitution, falling even outside
the realm of fundamental rights – like Articles 265, 301, 311 and 314. [19] In cases of
statutory administrative actions, there is an additional constitutional ground upon which
its validity may be challenged, namely, that the statute, under which the administrative
order has been made, is itself unconstitutional.19 Where the impugned order is quasi-
judicial, similarly, it may be challenged on the grounds, inter alia,

that the order is unconstitutional; [20]

that the law under which the order has been made is itself unconstitutional. [21]

Constitutional law thus advances itself into the judicial review chapter in administrative
law in a country like the USA or India. The courts in these countries have to secure that
the administration is carried on not only subject to the rule of law but also subject to the
provisions of their respective Constitutions. [22] It can be observed that an attack upon
the constitutionality of a statute relates to constitutional law and the constitutionality of
an administrative action concerns administrative law, but the provisions of the same
Constitution apply in both the spheres.

The object of both the common law doctrine of rule of law or supremacy of law and a
written constitution is the same, namely, the regulation and prevention of arbitrary
exercise of power by the administrative agencies of the Government. The rule of law
insists that “the agencies of the Government are no more free than the private individual
to act according to their own arbitrary will or whim but must conform to legal rules
developed and applied by the courts”. [23] The business of the written constitution is to
embody these standards in the form of constitutional guarantees and limitations and it
is the duty of the courts to protect the individual from a breach of his rights by the
departments of the Government or other administrative agencies.

Chapter 2

Administrative growth in constitutional matrix

Administrative law is a by-product of intensive form of Government. During the last
century, the role of Government has changed in almost every State of the world; from a
laissez faire state to a welfare and service state. [24] As a result, it is expected of the
modern state not only to protect its citizens from external aggression and internal
disturbance, but also to take care of its citizens, right from birth to their death.
Therefore, the development of administrative process and the administrative law has
become the cornerstone of modern political philosophy. [25]

Today there is a demand by the people that the Government must redress their
problems in addition to merely defining their rights. The rights are elaborately defined
in the Constitution but the policies to protect these rights are formulated by the
Government (the executive) and implemented by the administrative agencies of the
State. There thus arises a direct nexus between the constitutional law and administrative
law where the former acts as a source from which the rights of the individuals flow and
the latter implements its policies accordingly mandated to preserve the sanctity of those
rights. [26]

It is widely agreed that the right of equality in the American Constitution will be a sterile
right if the black is the first to lose his job and the last to be reemployed. [27] In the
same manner the equality clause in the Indian Constitution would be meaningless if the
Government does not come forward to actively help the weaker sections of society to
bring about equality in fact. This requires the growth of administrative law and
administrative process under the welfare philosophy embodied in the constitutional law.

The Genus-Species Relationship

Administrative law has been defined as the law relating to administration. It determines
the organisation, powers and duties of administrative authorities. [28] This definition
does not make any attempt to distinguish administrative law from constitutional law.
Besides, this definition is too wide because the law which determines the powers of
administrative authorities may also deal with the substantive aspects of such powers. It
may deal with matters such as public health, housing, town and country planning, etc
which are not included within the scope of administrative law. Administrative law,
however, tends to deal with these matters as the Constitution has embodied the
principle of a welfare State, and the State can execute and implement these rules
veraciously in the society only through administrative laws. Prof. Sathe observes that:
“Administrative law is a part of constitutional law and all concerns of administrative law
are also concerns of constitutional law.” [29]

It can therefore be inferred that constitutional law has a wide sphere of jurisdiction, with
administrative law occupying a substantive part. In other words, constitutional law can
be termed as the genus of which a substantive portion of administrative law is the
species.

Constitutional determination of the scope of

administrative function
The Indian Constitution is unanimously and rightly termed as the “grand norm” with
respect to domestic legislations. The Constitution circumscribes the powers of the
legislature and executive and limits their authority in various ways. [30] It distributes the
governmental powers between the Centre and the States. It guarantees the fundamental
rights to its citizens and protects them from any abridgement by the State by way of
legislative or executive action. The courts interpret the Constitution and declare the acts
of legislature as well as executive as unconstitutional if they violate the any provision of
the Constitution.

It also bridles the legislature in that they cannot make a law which delegates essential
legislative powers or which vests unrestrained discretionary powers with the executive
so as to make its arbitrary exercise possible. [31] The validity of an executive act is seen
with reference to the power given to it by the legislature. The Constitution has, however,
in turn laid down the framework defining the extent of laws made by Parliament and the
State Legislatures. [32] Constitutional law therefore enjoys the status of the prime
moderator monitoring legislative actions and in turn installs a yardstick upon the extent
of the rules made by the executive while acting in the capacity of a delegate. [33] It can
be inferred indisputably that constitutional law plays a critical role of the key channel
from where the guidelines determining the scope of administrative action flow, thereby
establishing a unique relationship between the two very distinct but highly related
spheres of law.

Constitutional Impact on Administrative Adjudication

In order to provide speedy and inexpensive justice to employees aggrieved by
administrative decisions, the Government set up the Central Administrative Tribunal
(CAT) in 1985, which now deals with all cases relating to service matters which were
previously dealt with by courts up to and including the High Courts. Establishment of
the Central Administrative Tribunal under the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 is one
of the important steps taken in the direction of development of administrative law in
India.42 The Administrative Tribunals Act while stimulating the development of
administrative law, drew its legitimacy and substance from the constitutional law and
was passed by Parliament in pursuance of Article 323-A of the Constitution. Dr. Rajeev
Dhavan comments on the new tribunal system envisaged under Art. 323-A: “The Forty-
second Amendment envisaged a tribunal structure and limited review powers by the
High Courts. In the long run, this could mean a streamlined system of tribunal justice
under the superintendence of the Supreme Court. Properly worked out such a system is
not a bad one. It would be both an Indian and a common law adaptation of the French
system of droit administratif.” [34]

Conclusion
Although the relationship between constitutional law and administrative law is not very
emboldened to be seen with naked eyes but the fact remains that concomitant points
are neither so blurred that one has to look through the cervices of the texts with a
magnifier to locate the relationship. The aforementioned veracities and illustrations
provide a cogent evidence to establish an essential relationship between the
fundamentals of both the concepts. If doubts still persist, the very fact that each author,
without the exception of a single, tends to differentiate between the two branches of
law commands the hypothecation of a huge overlap.

The separate existence of administrative law is at no point of time disputed; however, if

one draws two circles of the two branches of law, at a certain place they will overlap
depicting their stern relationship and this area may be termed as watershed in
administrative law. In India, in the watershed one can include the whole control
mechanism provided in the Constitution for the control of administrative authorities i.e.
Articles 32, 136, 226, 227 300 and 311. It may include the directives to the State under
Part IV. It may also include the study of those administrative agencies which are
provided for by the Constitution itself under Articles 261, 263, 280, 315, 323-A and 324.
It may further include the study of constitutional limitations on delegation of powers to
the administrative authorities and also those provisions of the Constitution which place
fetters on administrative action i.e. fundamental rights.