Holding

The location of a Revenue Mandal Headquarters is a governmental function; the guidelines are merely executive instructions without statutory force, and the High Court cannot quash or direct the specific location, only may direct reconsideration.

Summary

The Supreme Court examined writ petitions filed under Art.226 challenging the location of Revenue Mandal Headquarters in Andhra Pradesh, which had been notified under sub‑section (5) of Section 3 of the Andhra Pradesh Districts (Formation) Act, 1974. The High Court had, in some cases, quashed the final notifications and even directed the government to shift the headquarters, while in other cases it declined to interfere. The Court held that the decision on the location of a Mandal Headquarters is a purely governmental function, guided by non‑statutory executive instructions (the "guidelines") that have no statutory force. Consequently, the High Court could at most direct the government to reconsider its decision, but could not issue a mandamus ordering a specific location. The Supreme Court set aside the High Court judgments that interfered and dismissed the writ petitions, with no order as to costs.

Issues considered

Whether the location of Revenue Mandal Headquarters under S.3(5) of the Andhra Pradesh Districts (Formation) Act, 1974 is amenable to writ jurisdiction under Art.226 of the Constitution.
Whether the guidelines issued by the State Government have statutory force and are justiciable.
Whether the High Court can quash a final notification and direct the government to fix a specific Mandal Headquarters.

Legislation cited

Andhra Pradesh District (Formation) Rules, 1984
Andhra Pradesh Districts (Formation) Act, 1974s. 3(5)
Constitution of Indias. Art.12, s. Art.162, s. Art.226, s. Art.73

Subjects

Administrative lawWrit jurisdictionSection 3(5)Revenue MandalGuidelinesDiscretionary powerJudicial reviewPrerogative powerAndhra Pradesh Districts (Formation) Act

Judgment

I

J.R. RAGHUPATHY, ETC.
A
v.
STATE OF A.P. & ORS. ETC.

JULY 28, 1988

B [A.P. SEN AND B.C. RAY, JJ.]

Andhra Pradesh Districts (Formation) Act, 1974-Whether loca- •
tion of Revenue Manda/ Headquarters under Sub-Section (5) of Section
3 of-Was amenable to Writ jurisdiction of High Court.
I
These appeals by Special Leave and a petition for Special leave
c arose out of different judgments of the High Court. The main issue
involved was whether the location of Revenue Mandal Headquarters in
the State of Andhra Pradesh under S. 3(5) of the Andhra Pradesh
District (Formation) Act, 1974, was a purely governmental function,
not amenable to the writ jurisdiction of the High Court.
D
Writ Petitions were filed in the High Court by individuals ~d
gram panchayats questioning the legality and propriety of the forma-
tion of certain Revenue Mandals and location of certain Mandal Head-
quarters notified i'n preliminary notification issued under sub-s. (5) of
Section 3 of the Act. In some cases, the High Court declined to interfere
E with the location of Manda! Headquarters, holding that the government
was the best judge of the situation, or on the ground that there was a
breach of guidelines it directed the Government to reconsider the ques-
tion of location of the Manda! Headquarters. In some cases, the High
Court quashed the final notification for location of the Mandal Head-
quarters at a particular place, holding that there ·was a breach of
F guidelines based on the system ofmarkioli and also on the ground that
there were no reasons disclosed for deviating from the preliminary
notification for location of the Manda! Headquarters at another place.

Allowing Civil Appeal Nos. 1980, 1982, 1985 and 1987of1986 and
all other appeals and Special Leave Petitions directed against the judg-
G men ts of the High Court, whereby the High Court had interfered, with
the location of the Manda! Headquarters, the Court,

HELD: It was difficult to sustain the interference by the' High
Court in some of cases with the location of the Manda! Headquarters 4'
and the quashing of the impugned notiticati<in on the ground that the
H Government had acted in breach of the guidelines in that one place or
694
J.R. RAGHUPATHY v. STATE OF A.P. 695

the other was more centrally located or that location at the other place
A
would promote general public convenience or that the Headquarters
should be fixed at a particular place with a view to developing the areas
surrounded by it or that merely because a particular person who was an
influential Member of Legislative Assembly belonging to the party in
opposition had the right of representation but faile<! to avail of it. The
location of Headquarters by the Government by the issue of the final B
notification under sub-s (5) of s. 3 of the Act was on a consideration by
the Cabinet Sub-Committee of the proposals submitted by the Col-
lectors concerned and the objections and suggestions received from the
local authorities like Gram Panchayats aud the general public, keeping
in view the relevant factors. Even assuming that any breach of the
guidelines for the location of the Manda! Headquarters was justiciable,
the utmost that the High Court could have done was to quash the
c
impugned notification in a particular case and direct the Government to
reconsider the question. There was no warrant for the High Court to
have gone further and direct the shifting of the Manda! Headquarters at
a particular place. (71IB-E]
D
The guidelines are merely in the nature of instructions issued by
the State Government to the Collectors regulating the manner in which
they should formulate their proposals for formation of a Revenue Man•
dal or for the location of its Headquarters keeping in view the broad
guidelines laid down in Appendix I to the White Paper issued by the
Government laying down the broad guidelines. The guidelines had no, E
statutory force and they had also not been published in the Official
Gazette. They were mere departmental instructions for the Collectors.
The ultimate decision as .to the formation of a Revenue Manda! or
location of its Headquarters was with the Government. It was for that
reason that the Government issued preliminary notification under sub-s
(5) of section 3 of the Act. Deviation from the guidelines in some of the F
aspects was usually for reasons of administrative convenience keeping
in view the purpose and object of the Act i.e. to bring the administra-
tion nearer to the people. There was nothing on record to show that the
, decision of the Government in any of these cases was arbitrary or
capricious or was one not reached in good faith or actuated with impro'
per considerations or influenced by extraneous considerations. In a G
matter like this, conferment of discretion upon the Government in the
matter of formation of a Revenue Manda! or location of its Headquar-
ters 'in the nature of things necessarily leaves the Government with a
, • choice in the use of the directions conferred upon it. (713A-F]

It was difficult to sustain the judgments of the High Court in the H
i
696 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] Supp. 1 S.C.R.

A cases where it had interfered with the location of Manna! Headquarters
and quashed the impugned notifications on the ground that the Govern-
ment had acted in breach of the guidelines in that one place or the other
was more centrally located or that location at the other place would
p~omote general public convenience or that the Headquarters should be
fixed at a particular place with a view to developing the area sur-
B rounded by it. The location of Headquarters by the Government by the
issue of the final notification under sub-section (5) of Section 3 of the
Act was on a consideration by the Cabinet Sub-Committee of the pro- •
posals submitted by the Collectors concerned and the objections ancf
suggestions received from the local authorities like the gram panchayats
and the general public. Even assuming that the Government while
c accepting the recommendations of the CaMnet Sub-Committee directed
that the Manda! Headquarters should be at one place rather than at
another place as recommended by the Collector concerned in a particu-
lar case, the High Court would not have issued a writ in the nature of
mandamus to enforce the guidelines which were nothing more than
administrative instructions not having any statutory force, which did
D not give rise to any legal right in favour of the writ petitioners. The
petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitutions before the High
Court were dismissed. [723G-H; 724A-D]

Gram Panchayat, Chinna Madur & Ors. v. The Government of
Andhra Pradesh, [19861 l Andhra Weekly Reporter 362; C.J.
E Fernandez v. State of Mysore & Ors., [19671 3 S.C.R. 636; Padfield v.
Minister of Agriculture Fisheries & Food, LR 1968 AC 997; Laker
Airways Ltd. v. Department of Trade, LR 1967 QB 643 at 705; Council
of Civil Service Unions and Others v. Minister for the Civil Service,
[1984] 3 All ER 935 (RL); Secretary of State for Education and Science
v. Tameside M.B.C., LR 1977 AC 1014; Breen v. Amalgamated
F Engineering Union, LR 1971 2 QB 175 at 190; R. V. Criminal Injuries
Compensation Board, explain, [19671 2 QB 864 and Ridge v. Baldwin,
[19641AC40, referred to.

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal Nos.
1979-85 of 1986 etc. etc.
G
From the Judgment and Order dated 12.2.1986/28.2.1986/49.1.
1986 and 5.2.1986 of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in W.P. Nos.
6063, 5379, 9908, 7836 and 5379 of1985.

Seetaramaiah, A.S. Nambyar, R.N. Keshwani, T.V.S.N.
H Chari, Ms. Vrinda Grover, S. Mudigonda, C.S. Vaidanathan, S.R.
J.R. RAGHUPA1HY v. STATE OF A.P. [SEN, J.] 697

Sethia, Vimal Dave, B. Rajeshwara Rao, Jitendra Shanna, G.N. Rao,
T.c: Gupta, B.P. Sarathi, A. Subba Rao and B. Kanta Rao for the
A
appearing parties.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

SEN, J. These appeals by special leave and the connected B
special leave petitions directed against the various judgments and
orders of the Andhra Pradesh High Court involve a question of princi-
ple, and relate to location of Manda! Headquarters in the State of
Andhra Pradesh Jnder s. 3(5) of the Andhra Pradesh Districts (For-
mation) Act, 1974. The main issue involved is whether location of
Manda! Headquarters was a purely governmental function and there-
fore not amenable to the writ jurisdiction of the High Court under Art. C
226 of the Constitution. In the present cases we are concerned with the
location of 12 Revenue Manda! Headquarters.

The avowed object and purpose of the Andhra Pradesh District
(Formation). Act, 1974, as amended by the Andhra Pradesh District D
(Formation) Amendment Act, 1985 as reflected in the long title, was
to bring about a change in the Revenue Administration with a view to
'bring the administration-nearer to the people and to make all public
services easily available to them'. The change in the Revenue
Administration was so achieved by the creation of Revenue Mandals
in place of taluks and firkas. The purpose of the legislat\on is brought E
out in the Statement of Objects and Reasons, a relevant portion
whereof is as under: '

"On a careful review of the socio.economic development
of the State· for the last 20 years the State Government felt
it necessary to take th\' administration nearer to the F
people. It was of the opinion th~tthe only method to be
adopted by the Government, for a better Revenue Adminis-
tration and to ·sen1e the interests of th1! people in a more
effective and suitable manner was by formation of the Man-
dals in place of taluks and firkas. It was of the view that a
decentralisation of administration ·and, reduction in its G
levels 'Yould be conducive to a more efficient implementa-
tion of administration which brings the involvement of the
people, particularly in the implementation of several
J, welfare measures of the Government, and especially to up-
lift the conditions of the weaker sections of the society, It
also fel~ that there was urgent necessity to review its . H
J
698 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] Supp. 1 S.C.R.

activities and services and welfare programmes and that
A
they should be extended to the interior regions and that the
creation of Mandals with a population ranging from 35,000
to 55,000 based upon density of population would be an
effective method for providing better facilities to the
people at lesser cost and greaier convenience. The avowed
object was therefore to 'bring the administration nearer to
the people and to make all public services easily available
to them'. This was achieved by the creation of Revenue
Mandals in place of taluks and firkas."

To implement the decision of the Government, on 11th January,
1984 the Governor of Andhra Pradesh accordingly promulgated Ordi-
C nance No. 22 of 1984. This Ordinance was later replaced by Ordinance
No. 5 of .1985 inasmuch as the earlier Ordinance could· not be
reintroduced due to dissolution of the Legisiative Assembly. The Or-
dinance was later replaced by Act No. 14 of 1985. The change in
administration was brought about by amending s. 3 of the Act by
D introducing the word 'mandals' in place of taluks and firkas. Pursuant
to their powers under sub-s. (1) of s. 3 of the Andhra Pradesh Districts
(Formation) Act, as amended by Act 14 of 1985, the State Govern-
ment, by notification published in the official gazette, after following
the procedure laid down in sub-s.(5) thereof divided the State for the
purpose of revenue administration into 23 Revenue District with such
E limits as specified therein. Each such district consisted of Revenue
Divisions and each Revenue Division consisted of Revenue Mandals.
The 23 districts now comprise of 1104 Revenue Mandals.

As many as 124 petitions under Art. 226 of the Constitution were
filed in the High Court by individuals and gram panchayat questioning
F the legality and propriety of the formation of certain Revenue Man-
dals, and particularly location of Manda! Headquarters, abolition of
certain Mandals or shifting of Manda! Headquarters, as notified in the
preliminary notification issued under sub-s. (5) of s. 3, deletion and
addition of villages to certain mandals. Some of the writ petitions were
heard by one Division Berrch and the others by another, both the
G Benches being presided over by Reghuvir, J. who has delivered all the
judgments. Incidentally, there is no statutory provision relating to
location of Manda! Headquarters and the matter is governed by
GO Ms dated 25th July, 1985 issued by the State Government laying
down the broad guidelines for the formation of Mandals and also for , \
location of Manda! Headquarters. The learned Judges upheld the val-
H jdity of formation of Mandals as also the aforesaid GOMs and in some
J.R. RAGHUPATHY v. STATE OF A.P. [SEN, J.] 699

cases they declined to interfere with the location of Manda! Head- A
quarters holding that the Government was the best judge of the situa-
tion or on the ground that there was a breach of the guidelines, and
directed the Government to reconsider the question of location of
Manda! Headquarters .. However, in other cases the learned Judges
have gone a step further and quashed the final notification for location
of Manda! Headquarters at.a particular place holding that there was a B
.. breach of the guidelines based on the system of marking and also on
the ground that there were no reasons disclosed for deviating from the
preliminary notification, and instead directed the Government to issue
' a fresh notification for location of Manda! Headquarters at another
place. One of the arguments advanced before us in the cases where the
High Court has declined to interfere is that both the High Court and
the State Government should have applied a uniform standard in deal-
c
ing with the question and generally it is said that the State Government
I should at any rate have adhered to the guidelines in fixing the location
of Manda! Headquarters without being guided by extraneous consi-
derations.
D
Myriad are the facts. It is not necessary for us to delve into the
facts in any detail. It would suffice for our purposes to touch upon the
facts in some of the cases to present the rather confusing picture
emerging as a result of conflicting directions made by the High Court.
It appears that Raghuvir, J. relied upon the underlying principle
emerging from his earlier decision delivered on behalf of himself and E
Sriramulu, J. in the Gram Panchayat, Chinna Madur & Ors. v. The
Government of Andhra Pradesh, [1986] 1 Andhra Weekly Reporter
362 which he calls as the 'Chandur principle'. Tn that case following the
earlier decision of the High Court where a place called Chandur was
not shown in the preliminary notification for formation of a taluk, but
was chosen to be the place of location of the Taluk Headquarters in the F
final notification, it was held that in such a case publication of the final
notification could not be sustained and it was for the Government to
give reasons for such deviation. The decision proceeded on the princi-
pie that where guidelines are issued regulating the manner in which a
discretionary power is to be exercised, the Government is equally
bound by the guidelines. If the guidelines were violated, it was for the G
Government to offer explanation as to why the guidelines were
deviated from. We are afraid, there is no such inflexible rule of univer-
sal application. The learned Judges failed to appreciate that the
guidelines issued by the State Government had no statutory force and
' they were merely in the nature of executive instructions for the gui-
dance of the Collectors. On the basis of such guidelines the Collectors H
I '
700 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] Supp. 1 S.C.R.

were asked to forward proposals for formation of Revenue Mandals
A and for location of Manda! Headquarters. The proposals so forwarded
by the Collectors were processed in the Secretariat in the light of the
suggestions and objections received in response to the preliminary
notification issued under s. 3(5) of the Act and then placed before a
Cabinet Sub Committee. The ultimate decision as to the place of
B location of Manda! Headquarters was for the Government to take. It
cannot be said that in any of the cases the action of the Government
for location of such Manda! Headquarters was ma/a fide or in bad faith ••
or that it proceeded on extraneous consideration. Nor can it be said
that the impugned action would result in arbitrariness or absence of
•.
fairplay or discrimination.
c We must next refer to the facts in a few illustrative cases. In the
Gram Panchayat, Chinna Madur's case, although in the preliminary
notification issued under s. 3(5) of the Act for formation of Devarup·
palla Manda!, Chinna Madur was proposed as the Manda! Head-
quarters, the Revenue authorities in the final notification declared
D Devaruppalla as the Manda! Headquarters. In the writ petition, the , ..
High Court produced the records and it showed that both Devarup·
palla and Chinna Madur provided equal facilities as to communica-
tion, transport, veterinary hospital, bank, school etc. and secured 15
·marks each. The Government preferred Devaruppalla as Chinna
Madur was fo~ccessible in some seasons as that village was divided by
1

E twq rivers from rest of the villages. Devaruppalla besides is· located on
Hyperabad-Suryapet Highway which was considered to be a factor in
its favour. After reiterating the Chandur principle that it is for the
Goyernment, to give reasons for ·such deviation, the learned Judges
declined to interfere, observing:

F "In the instant case, the record produced shows the
authorities considered the comparative merits of Devarup·
I palla and Chinna Madur. The Revenue authorities applied
the correct indicia of accessibility in all seasons. Other
facilities of the two villages were discussed at length in the
record. Having regard to the overwhelmin_g features in
. favour of Devaruppalla the village was declared as head-
G
quarters."
~
We have referred to the facts of this case because it highlights the
approach of the High Court and it hos •ssumed to itself the function of the ~
Government in weighing the comparative merits and demerits in the
H matter of location of the Manda! ~eadquarters.
J.R. RAGHUPATIIY v. STATE OF A.P. !SEN, J.J 701

The same infirmity unfortunately permeates through some of the A
judgments where the High Court has interfered. In some of the cases
· the High Court has gone furt!ter and not only quashed the impugned
· · notification for location of the Mandal Headquarters at a particular
place but also directed the shifting to another place. In Civil Appeals
Nos. 1980 and 1985 of 1986, in formation of Gollamamidada Manda!,
Gollamamidada was shown as the proposed Headquarters in the B
,, .. priliminary notification, but Pedapudi was selected to be the place of
Headquarters in the final notification. Goll"'!?-amidada secured 23
marks as compared to 18 marks secured by Pedllpudi. The C:ollector
relaxed the guideline because, it was stated, 12 out of 17 Panchayat
· opted for Pedapudi to be the Headquarters presumably because
Gollamamidada was at one end of the Mandal and out of 17 villages
comprised in the Mandal, 10 villages were at a distance of 7 to 14 c
kilometres and there were no proper travelling facilities and therefore
it was beyond the reach of the common man. Allowing the writ peti-
tion, the High Court observed: "On evaluation ol the sketch, we hold
that neither of the two villages is centrally located". It went on to say
that "the guidelines prescribed by the Government bind the Govern- D
ment and cannot be relaxed and there was no reason forthcoming for.
supersession of the claim of the village Gollamamidada by Pedapudi."
Although the Cabinet Sub Committee had directed the vari~tion on
grounds of administrative convenience and for the reason that 12 ol:it
of 17 Gram Panchayats had resolved that Pedapudi should be the
Headquarters, the High Court quashed the notification saying that the E
resolution of the Gram Panchayat might be relevant fpr consideration,
but in law it was not decisive of the question. It furth~r observed that
there was no explanation as to why the place of location as specified in
the preliminary notlficat!oµ was varied and accordiitgly directed the
shifting of Headquarters to Gollamamidada' We find it difficult to
subs.cribe to this line of reasoning adopted by the High Court. F

In Civil Appeals Nos. 1982 and 1987 of 1986, the judgment of the
High Court suffers from the same infirmity. In the preliminary as well
as final notification, for formation of Kalher Revenue Mandal, Kalher
was declared to the Mandal Headquarters. Kalher secured 14 marks as
against Sirgapur .which secured 22 marks. The High Court quashed the G
notification for location of the Headquarters at kalher and directed the
shifting of the Headquarters to Sirgapur on the basis of the Collector's
note appended to the file which stated:

"As per the guidelines, the Mandal Headquarters may
have to be fixed at Sirgapur and not at-Kalher. Sirgapur has H
I
702 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] Supp. 1 S.C.R.

scored 22 points whereas the score of Kalher is only 14.
A
Sirgapur is undoubtedly the zone of influence for this
Manda!. Moreover, Sirgapur is centrally located and has
better road connections with the rest of the villages,
besides having maximum infrastructural facilities."

B The High Court observed that no record was produced as to why
the Government did not act on the note placed on the file. .,
It will serve no useful purpose to delineate the facts in all the
cases which follow more or less on the same lines. We are of the
opinion that the High Court had no jurisdiction to sit in appeal over
the decision of the State Government to locate the Manda! Head-
c quarters at a particular place. The decision to locate such
Headquarters at a particular village is dependent upon various factors.
The High Court obviously could not evaluate for itself the comparative
merits of a, particular place as against the other for location of the
Manda! Headquarters. In some of the cases the High Court decliried to
D interfere saying that the Government was the best judge of the situa-
tion in the matter of location of Manda! Headquarters. However, in a
few cases the High Court while quashing the impugned notifications
for location of Manda! Headquarters issued under sub-s. (5) of s. 3 of
the Act on the ground that there was a breach of the guidelines,
directed the Government to reconsider the questiop after hearing the
E parties.

We have had the benefit of hearing learned counsel for the
parties on various aspects of this branch of administrative law as to the
nature and scope of the guidelines and whether their non-observance
was justiciable. The learned counsel with their usual industry placed
F before us a large number of authorities touching upon the subject. On
the view that we take, it is not necessary for us to refer to them all.

Shri T.V.S.N. Chari, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
State Government followed by Dr. Y.S. Chitale, Shri U.R. Lalit and
Shti C.S. Vaidyanathan, learned counsel appearing for the appellants
G in cases where the High Court has interfered have, in substance, con-
tended that suitability as to the location of Manda! Headquarters is for
the Government to decide and not for the High Court. They contend
that the High Court failed to view the case from a proper perspective.
According to them, the guidelines are executive instructions, pure and
simple, and have no statutory force. It was pointed out that there is no
H statutory provision made either in the Act or the Rules framed there-
J.R. RAGHUPATHY v. STATE OF A.P. [SEN. J.] 703

under laying down the manner in which the location of the Head-
A
quarters of a Revenue Manda! was to be made. The Legislature has
left the matter of selection of a place to be the Manda! Headquarters to
the discretion of the State Government and it was purely a Govern-
mental function based on administrative convenience. The Govern-
ment accordingly issued a White Paper laying down the broad
guidelines as contained in Appendix I thereto. The Collector were B
required to forward their proposals for formation of Revenue Mandals
indicating the place where the Headquarters should be located in ac-
cordance with the principles laid down in the guidelines based on a
system of marking. Although the Collectors were required to propose
the location of Manda! Headquarters at a particular place on a system
of marking, but that was ·not determinative of the question. If the C
marks were to be the sole criterion, then there was no question of
inviting objections and suggestions. The ultimate decision therefore
lay with the Government and in making the selection the Government
had the duty to ensure that the place located for location of Manda!
Headquarters promoted administrative convenience and further the
object and purpose of the legislation in bringing about a change in the D
Revenue administration viz. (i) to bring the administration nearer to
the people and (ii) to make all public services easily available to them,
the main criterion as laid down in the guidelines being suitability and
accessibility. Further, the learned counsel contended that the High
Court was clearly in error in substituting its judgment for that of the
State Government. Non-observance of the guidelines which were in E
the nature of executive instructions was not justiciable. In any event,
the High Court could not have issued a direction requiring the Govern-
ment to shift the Headquarters of a Revenue Manda! from a particular
place to another place on its own evaluation of the comparative merits
and demerits merely on the basis of marking. The learned counsel
relied upon G.J. Fernandez v. State of Mysore & Ors., [1967] 3 SCR F
636 and other decisions taking the same view.

We had an equally persuasive reply to these arguments. Shri
Seetaramaiah, learned counsel appearing for th.e respondents in cases
where the High Court has interfered, advanced the main argument on
the legal aspect with much learning and resource and placed all the G
authorities on this abstruse branch of administrative law, namely, the
Courts have albeit the Governmental action which involves exercise of
discretionary powers, control over the exercise of such Governmental
power by implying limits of reasonableness, relevance and purpose.
Judicial control over the executive, or over an administrative autho-
rity, must be maintained. Such judicial control by necessary impli- H
704 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] Supp. 1 S.C.R.

cation is reconciled with legislative intent, ..on the premise that the
A legislature never intended that the Government should have unfet-
tered control over a certain area .. He drew our attention ·to several
recent English decisions which manifest a definite shift in the attitude
of the Courts to increase their control over discretion. According to
the learned counsel, the traditional position is that Courts will control
B the existence and extent of prerogative power i.e. governmental
power, but not the manner of exercise thereof.' What degree or
standard of control would then be exercised would depend· upon the
type of subject-matter in issue. He submits that there is increasing
willingness of the Courts to assert their power to scrutinise the factual
bases upon which discretionary powers have been exercised.
c It is said that the Court is not powerless to intervene where the
decision of the Government is reached by taking into account factors
that were legally irrelevant or by using its power in a way calculated to
frustrate the policy of the Act. It follows that the nature and object of
the status had to be considered to determine the area of power posses-
D sed. It is urged that.the remedy of a writ of mandamus is available if a
decision is reached by the Government on the basis of irrelevant con-
siderations or improper purposes or for other misuse of power. Upon
that premise, he does not accept that the High Court had no juiisdic-
tion to interfere with the orders passed by the State Government for
the location of the Headquarters of a Revenue Manda! under Art. 226
E of the Constitution. Substantially, the argument is that the guidelines
framed by the State Government have~ statutory force inasmuch as
the power to issue such"administrative directions or instructions to the
Collectors is conferred_ by the provisions of the Act itself. Alterna-
,,tively, he says that even though a non-statutory rule, bye-law or
ili~ruction may be changed by the authority who ma"de it without any
F- formality and it cannot ordinarily be enforced through a Court of law,
· the party aggiieved by its non-enforcement m_ay nevertheless get relief
under Art. 226 of the Constitution where the !!On-observance of the
non-statutory rule or practice would result in arbitrariness or absence
of fairplay or discrimination, particularly where the authority making
such n'on-statutory rule-or the like-comes within the definition of
G 'State' under Art. 12. In substance, the contention is that the principle
laid down in the classical decision of the House of Lords in Padfield v.
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food, LR 1968 AC 997 that the
Courts will control the exercise of statutory powers by the Minister, \
still prevails over exercise of discretionary powers by the Government.
The general approach now is for the Courts to require that the.Govern-
'H men! must produce reasonable grounds for its action, even where the
/ J.R. RAGHUPATHY v. STATE OF A.P. [SEN, J.] 705

jurisdictional fact is subjectively framed. He drew our attention to the
A
observations of Lord Denning M.R. in Laker Airways Ltd. v. Depart-
ment of Trade, LR 1977 QB 643 at p. 705 to the effect:

"The prerogative is a discretionary power exercisable by
the executive government for the public good, in certain
spheres of governmental activity for which the law has B
made no provision, such as the war prerogative (of requisi-
tioning property for the defence of the realm), or the treaty
prerogative (of making treaties with foreign powers). The
law does not interfere with the proper exercise of the dis-
cretion by the executive in those situations: but it can set
limits by defining the bounds of the activity: and it can
intervene if the discretion is exercised improperly or mista-
c
kenly. That is a fundamental principle of our constitution."

• * * •
is
"Seeing that the prerogative a discretionary power to be D
exercised for the public good, it follows that its exercise can
be examined by the courts just as any other discretionary
power which is vested in the executive. At several times in
our history' the executive have claimed that a discretion
given by the prerogative is unfettered: just as they have
claimed that a discretion given by statute or by regulation is E-
unfettered ........ The two outstanding cases are Pad-·
field v. Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, (19681
AC 997 and Secertary of State for Education and Science v.
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, (1976) 3 WLR
641, where the House of Lords have shown that when dis-
cretionary powers are entrusted to the executive by statute, F
the courts can examine the exercise of those powers to see
that they are used properly, and. not impropertly or
mistakely."

In order to appreciate the contentions advanced, it is necessary
to refer to the relevant statutory provisions bearing on the questions G
involved. Sub-s. (1) of s. 3, as amended, is in these terms:

"3(1) The Government may, by notification, from time to
time, for the purposes of revenue administration, divide
the State into such disticts with such limits as may be
specified therein; and each district shall consist of silch H
706 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] Supp. 1 S.C.R.

revenue divisions and each revenue division shall consist of
A
such mandals and each mandal shall consist of such villages
as the Government may, by notification from time to time,
specify in this behalf."

Sub-s. (2) thereof provides that the Government may, in the interests <·
.,
B of better administration and development of the areas, by notification
from time to time on and with effect on and from such date as may be
specified therein, form a new district, revenue division or mandal or
increase or diminish or alter their name. Sub-s. (4) empowers the
Board of Revenue in the interests of better administration and deve-
lopment of the areas and subject to such rules as may be prescribed, by
notification, group or amalgamate, any two or more revenue villages
01: portions thereof so as to form a single new revenue village or divide
any revenue village into two or more revenue villages, or increase or
diminish the area of any revenue village, or alter the boundaries or
name of any revenue village. Sub-s. (5) provides that before issuing
any notification under the section, the Government or the Board of
D Revenue, as the case may be, shall (lUblish in such manner as may be
prescribed, the proposals inviting objections or suggestions thereon
from the person residing within the district, revenue division, taluk.
firka or village who are likely to be affected thereby within such period
as may be specified therein, and shall take into consideration the
objections or suggestions, if any, received. Sub-s. (1) of s. 4 enacts that
E the Government may, by notification, make rules for carrying out all
or any of the purposes of this Act. The rules so framed shall be laid
before each House of the State Legislature, etc.

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-s. (1) of s. 4 of the
Act, the State Government framed the Andhra Pradesh District
F (Formation) Rules, 1984. The term 'Manda!' as defined in r. 2(iv)
means a part of the district within a revenue division under the charge
of a Tahsildar or Deputy Tahsildar. The expression 'revenue division'
is defined in r. 2(v) to mean a part of the district comprising of one or
more mandals under the charge of a Revenue Divisional Office_r/Sub
Collector/Assistant Collector or any other officer placed in charge of a
G division. The word 'village' in r. 2(vi) means a settlement or locality or
area consisting of cluster of habitations and the land belonging to their
proprietory inhabitants and includes, a town or city and a hamle.t
(Mazra). Rule 3 lays down the matters for consideration in formation
of districts, etc. Rules 4 and 5 provide for the publication of the pre-
liminary and final notifications in the official gazette. Rule 3 insofar as
H material reads:
,_, J.R. RAGHUPATIIY v. STATE OF A.P. (SEN, J.] 707

"3(1) Where any action is proposed to be taken by the A
Government under sub-s. (1) or sub-s. (2) of s. 3 of the Act
..... the Government ..... shall take into consideration
as far as may be the following matters and the views of the
Collectors of the districts and of such other authorities as
the Government may consider necessary>=
B
(i) Area, population, demand under the land re-
., venue and other revenues in respect of areas affected by
the proposals;
...
(ii) Historical association, Geographical contiguity,
Physical features common interests and problems, Cultural
and Educational requirements, Infrastructural facilities
c
and economic progress of the areas;

(iii) Development of the area or areas concerned,
having regard to the various developments and welfare
schemes undertaken or contemplated by the Government D
in relation to those areas;

(iv) Administrative convenience and better administ-
ration; and '

(v) Interests of economy." E

"3(3). In matters concerning sub-s. (1) or sub-s. (2) of s. 3
of the Act the Collector concerned shall forward to the
Government his report with his views together with the
record of enquiry if any for the consideration of the
Government. If after such consideration the Government F
so decides, a preliminary notification under sub-s. (5) of
s. 3 of the Act inviting objections or suggestions to the pro-
posals from the persons residing in the area/areas which are
likely to be affected thereby, shall be issued."

Sub-r. ( 1) of r. 4 provides for the manner of publication of the prelimi- G
nary notification referred to in sub-rr. (3) and (4) of r. 3 inviting
objection_s or ·suggestions. The notification has to be in Form I
appended to the Rules. R. 4(2) provides that any person affected by
the proposal may withinthirty days from the date of publication of th<>
I.
notification referred to _in sub-r. (1), communicate his objections or
su_ggestions thereto to the Secn:tary to the Government in the H
708 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] Supp.d S.C.R.

Revenue Department through the Collector of the district concerned,
A
who shall forward the same with his remarks to the Government, etc.
R. 5 provides that the Government shall having regard to the sugges-
tions or objections referred to in r. 4 either confirm the preliminary
notification or issue it with such modification/modifications as may be
necessary and publish it in Form II of the Gazette .. A preliminary
B notification under sub-s. (5) of s. 3 of the Act which has to be in Form I
has to notify to all concerned that the Government in the interests of
better administration and development of the area concerned, pro-
posed to form a new district/revenue division/mandal as set out in the
schedule appended thereto. All objections and suggestions have to be
addressed to the Collector within whose jurisdiction the area or areas
fall. Likewise, Form II prescribes the form of the final notification to
c the effect that the State Government having taken into consideration
the objections and suggestions received thereon, is pleased to notify
that with effect from (date) the State shall consist of the District/
Revenue Division/Manda! specified in Schedule I appended thereto.
There are no statutory provisions formulating the governing principles
D for .formation of Revenue Mandals or for location of Manda!
Headquarters.

On 25th July, 1985 the State Government published a White
Paper on formation of Mandals. It was stated inter alia that the
Revenue Mandals would be formed covering urban as well as rural
E areas unlike Panchayat Mandals which would cover only rural areas. A
Revenue Manda! would be demarcated for a population ranging from
35,000 to 55,000 in the case of rural mandals and was expected to cover
one-third to one-fourth the size of the existing taluks in areas and in
population. When a Municipality came within the area 'of a Revenue
Manda!, the urban population would be in addition. The ushering in of
F rural mandals would result in introductions of a four-tier system by
replacement of the then existing five-tier system. Such reduction in the
levels of tiers of administration the Government felt would be more
conducive to proper implementation of the policies and programmes
of the Government. Greater decentralisation was expected to lead to
more intensive involvement of the people, particularly in the
G implementation of programmes of economic development. According
to the scheme contemplated, each Revenue Manda! would be headed
by a Revenue Officer of the rank of a Tahsildar or a Deputy Tahsildar
and it was stated that the intention of the Government was to vest in
such Revenue Officers, all the powers that were till then exercised by
the Tahsildars and Taluk Magistrate. Appendix I to the White Paper
H formulated the principles for formation of Revenue Mandals and also
J.R. RAGHUPATHY v. STATE OF A.P. (SEN, J.J 709

laid down the broad guidelines for location of Manda! Headquarters.
A
The Collectors were· accordingly asked to forward their proposals for
creation of Revenue Mandals and also for location of Manda! Head-
quarters in conformity with the guidelines. The proposals were to be
duly notified by publication of a preliminary notification under sub-
s. (5) of s. 3 of the Act inviting objections and suggestions and the
Government after consideration of the objections and suggestions so · B
received would publish the. final notification. The broad guidelines for
location of Manda! Headquarters are set out below:

(3) As a general principle, the present Taluk Head-
quarters, Samithi Headquarters, Municipalities and Cor-
porations will be retained as Headquarters of Revenue
Mandals; if any exception is called for· on grounds of com-
c
pelling reasons detailed reasons will have to be given.

(4) Revenue Mandals whose headquarters will be the pre-
sent Taluk Headquarters/Samithi Headquarters/Munici-
palities/Corporations, will generally have a number of D
much needed infrastructurdl facilities already existing. A
number of people from the neighbouring villages will
therefore be visiting these headquarters for both
Governmental/non-Governmental business. In the case of
Revenue Mandals to be located exclusively within munici-
pal corporation areas, their requirements will be formula- E
ted according tci their needs.

In cases of Manda! Headquarters located in urban
centres which are not municipalities but with a population
of 15,000 or above the total population of the Manda!
would be 55,000 irrespective of population density. F

(6) In choosing the Headquarters of the Revenue Mandals
in the rural areas, weightage may be given to the availabi-
lity of the following facilities and the future growth of the
.' place .
G
(i) Banking facility;

.. (ii) Communication facility-either Railway Station or
Bus Stand;

(iii) PHC or Sub-Centre or any Dispensary/Indian H
Medicine;
710 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] Supp. 1 S.C.R.

(iv) Veterinary Dispensary;
A
(v) Police Station;

(vi) Po~t Office/Telephone Exchange;

B (vii) High School.

(viii) Market Yard/Agricultural Godown;

(ix) Already a Firka Headquarters;

(x) Any other special qualification like availability of
c office accommodation, residential quarters for the
staff etc.

A centre having one or more of the above characteristics
and more accessible to most of the villages proposed for the
D Mandal in comparison to any other centre should be gener-
ally selected as Headquarters. If in any mandal there is
more than one centre having equal accessibility/facilities
then the centre which comes forward to donate land for
office buildings·and to provide temporary office accommo-
dation may be given preference.
E
(8) In the selection of villages for inclusion in the Mandal,
' the principal criterion shall be that the Mandal Head-
quarters is most accessiable to all the villages."

It is quite obvious from the guidelines that the location of the Head-
F quarters of a Revenue Mandal is based on a system of marking, the
principal criterion being 'accessibility' i.e. the place located must be
accessible to all the villages in the Revenue Manda!. In choosing the
Headquarters of the Revenue Mandals in the rural ·areas, weightage
had to be given to the availability of certain facilities and the future
growth of the place as specified in items (i) to (x) of paragraph 6 of the
G guidelines. A centre or a etace having. one or more of the characteris-
tics so set out and more accessible to most of the villages proposed for
the Mandal in comparison to any other place had to be generally
selected as Mandal Headquarters. If in any Mandal there was more
than one place having equal accessibility/facilities then the place which
came forward to donate land for office buildings and to provide
H temporary office accommodation had to be given preference. Location
J.R. RAGHUPATHY v. STATE OF A.P. [SEN, J.] 711
I

of Manda! Headquarters was therefore based on a system of marking.
A
Learned counsel for the parties have with infinite· care taken us
minutely to the facts of each case in an endeavour to support their
respective contentions, viz., as to whether location of the Manda!
Headquarters by the Government at a particular place was in breach of
the guidelines or not.
B
We find it rather difficult to sustain the interference by the High
Court in some of the cases with location of Manda! Headquarters and
quashing of the impugned notification on the ground that the Govern-
ment acted in breach of the guidelines in that one place or the other
was more centrally located or that location at the other place would
promote general public convenience or that the Headquarters should C
.be fixed at a particular place with a view to develop the areas sur-
rounded by it or that merely because a particular person who was an
influential Member of Legislative Assembly belonging to the party in
opposition had the right of representation but failed to avail of it. The
location of Headquarters by the Government by the issue of the final
notification under sub-s. (5) of s. 3 of the Act was on a consideration D
by the Cabinet Sub Committee of the proposals submitted by the
. Collectors concerned and the objections and suggestions received
from the local authorities like Gram Panchayat and the general public,
, keeping in view the relevant factors. Even assuming that any breach of
the guidelines was justiciab.Ie, the utmost that the High Court could
have done was to quash the impugned notification in a particular case E
and direct the Government to reconsider the question. There was no
warrant for the High Court to have gone further and directed the
shifting of the Manda! Headquarters at a particular place.

Broadly speeking, the contention on behalf of the State Govern-
ment is that relief under Art. 226 of the Constitution is not available to F
enforce administrative rules, regulations or instructions which have no
statutory force, in the absence of exceptional circumstances. It is well-
settled that mandamus does not lie to enforce departmental manuals
or instructions not having any statutory force, which do not give rise to
any legal right in favour of the petitioner. The law on the subject is
succinctly stated in Durga Das Basu 's Administrative Law, 2nd edn. G
at p. 144:

''Administrative instructions, rules or manuals, which have
no statutory force, are not enforceable in a court of law.
Though for breach of such instructions, the public servant
may be held liable by the State and disciplinary action may H
i-

712 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] Supp. 1 S.C.R. "
be taken against him, a member of the public who is
A
aggrieved by the breach of such instructions cannot seek
any remedy in the courts. The reason is, that not having the
force of law, they cannot confer any legal right upon any-
body, and cannot, therefore, be enforced even by writs "
under Art. 226."
B
The learned author however rightly points out at p. 145:
<,
"Even though a non-statutory rule, bye-law or instruction •
may be changed by the authority who made it, without any
formality and it cannot ordinarily be enforced through a
Court of law, the party aggrieved by its non-enforcement
c may, nevertheless, get relief under Art. 226 of the Con-
stitution where the non-observance of the non-statutory
rule or practice would result in arbitrariness or absence of
fairplay or discrimination,-particularly where the autho-
rity making such non-statutory rule or the like comes
D within the definition of 'State' under Art. 12."

In G.J. Fernandez's case, the petitioner submitting the lowest tender
assailed the action of the Chief Engineer in addressing a communica-
tion to all the tenderers stating that even the lowest tender was undulY.
high and enquired whether they were prepared to reduce their tenders.
E One of them having reduced the amount of his tender lower than the
lowest, the Chief Engineer made a report to the Technical Sub-
Committee which made its recommendations to the Major Irrigation
Projects Control Board, the final authority, which accepted the tender
so offered. The High Court dismissed the writ petition holding that
there was no breach of the conditions of tender contained in the Public
F Works Department Code and further that there was no discrimination
which attracted the application of Art. 14. The question that fell for
consideration before this Court was whether the Code consisted of
statutory rules or not. The so-called Rules contained in the Code were
not framed under any statutory enactment· or the Constitution.
Wanchoo, CJ speaking for the Court held that under Art._ 162 the
G executive power of the State enables the Government to issue
administrative instructions to its servants how to act in certain circum-
stances, but that would not make such instructions statutory rules the
breach of which is justiciable. It was further held that non-observance
of such administrative instructions did not give any right to a person ~
like the appellant to come to Court for any relief on the alleged breach
H of the instructions. That precisely is the position here. The guidelines
J.R. RAGHUPATHY v. STATE OF A.P. [SEN, J.] 713

are merely in the nature of instructions issued by,the State Govern-
A
ment to the Collectors regulating the manner in which they should
formulate their proposals for formation of a Revenue Manda! or for
location of its Headquarters keeping in view the broad. guidelines laid
down in Appendix I to the White Paper. It must be stated that the
guidelines had"no statutory force and they had also not been published
in the Official Gazette. The guidelines were mere departmental B
instructions meant for the Collectors. The ultimate decision as to
formation of a Revenue Mandal or location of its Headquarters was
with the Government .. It was for that reason .that the Government
issued the preliminary notification under sub-s. (5) of s. 3 of the Act
inviting objections and suggestions. The objections and suggestions
were duly processed in the Secretariat and submitted to the Cabinet C
Sub-Committee along with its comments. The note of the Collector
appended to the proposal gave reasons for deviating from the
guidelines in some of the aspects. Such deviation was usually for
reasons of administrative convenience keeping in view the purpose
and object of the Act i.e. to bring the administration nearer to the
people. The Cabinet Sub-Committee after consideration of the objec- D
lions and suggestions received from the Gram Panchayat and members
of the public and other organisations as well as the comments of the
Secretariat and the note of the Collector came to a decision applying
the standards of reasonableness, relevance and purpose while keeping
in view the object and purpose of the legislation, published a final
notification under sub-s. (5). of s. 3 of the Act. There is nothing on E
record to show that .the decision of the State Government in any of
these cases was arbitrary or capricious or was one not reached in good
faith or actuated with improper considerations or influenced by ex-
.traneous considerations. In a matter like this, conferment of discretion
upon the Government in the matter of formation of a Revenue Mandal
or location of its Headquarters in the nature of things necessarily F
leaves the Government with a choice in the use of the discretion con-
ferred upon it.

It would be convenient at this stage to deal with the arguments of
Shri Seetaramaiah that the action of the Government in the matter of
location of Mandal Headquarters amounted to misuse of power for G
political ends and therefore amenable to the writ jurisdiction of the
High Court under Art. 226 of the Constitution. The learned counsel
mainly relied upon certain English decisions starting from Padfield v.
~· Minister of Agricultural, Fisheries & Food; LR 1968 AC 997 down to
Council of Civil Service Unions and Others v. Minister for the Civil
Service, [1984] 3 ALL. ER 935 (HL). What we call 'purely govemmen- H
714 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] Supp. 1 S.C.R.

A ta! function', it is said.• is nothing but exercise of 'discretion derived
from the royal prerogative'. The learned counsel contends that ever
since the judgment of Lord Denning in Laker Airways Ltd. v. Depart-
ment of Trade, LR 1977 QB 643, the myth of executive discretion in
refation to prerogative power no longer exists. The learned counsel
equated prerogative and statutory powers for this purpose, saying that
B ·in both' cases alike the Courts will not review the proper exercise of
discretion but will intervene to correct excess or abuse .. According to
him, the prerogative powers of the Crown in England are akin to the. •
executive functions of the Union and the States under.Art. 73 and 162
of the Constitution, on which refrain from expressing any final opi-
nion. Prima facie, it seems to us that the executive powers of the
c Union and the States under Arts. 73 and 162 are much wider than the
prerogative powers in England. We would refer to a couple of English
decisions from amongst those to which we were referred to during the
arguments.

At one time, the traditional view in England was that the execu-
D live was not answerable where its action was attributable to the exer-
cise of prerogative power. Professor De Smith in his classical work
'Judicial Review of Administrative Action' 4th Edn., at pp. 285-287
states the law in his own terse language. The· relevant principles
formulated by the courts may be broadly su1')marised as follows. The
authority in which a discretion is vested can be compelled to exercise
E that discretion, but not to exercise it in any particular manner. In
general, a discretion must be exercised only by the authority to which
it is committed. That authority must genuinely address itself to the
matter before it: it must not act under the dictation of another body or
disable itself from exercising a discretion in each individual case. In the
purported exercise of its discretion it must not do what it has been
f forbidden to do, nor must it do what it has not been authorised to do.
It must act in good faith, must have regard to all relevant considera-
. tions and must not be swayed by irrelevant considerations, must not
seek to promote purposes alien to the letter or to the spirit of the
legislation that gives it power to act, and must not act arbitrarily or
capriciously. Nor where a judgment must be made that certain facts
G exist can a disc~etion be validly exercised on the basis of an erroneous
assumption about those facts. These several principles can con-
veniently be grouped in two main categories: (i) failure to exercise a
discretion, and (ii) excess or abuse of discretionary power. The .two
classes are not, however, mutually exclusive. Thus, discretion may be
improperly fettered because irrelevant considerations have been taken
H into account; and where an authority hands over its discretion tq
J
J.R. RAGHUPATHY v. STAIB OF A.P. [SEN, J.J 715

another body it acts ultra Vires. The learned author then deals with the
A
question whether the principles outlined above are applicable to the
alleged abuse of wide discretionary powers vested in executive bodies
andiurther states:

"We have already noted that the .courts sometimes call a
discretionary power executive or administrative when they B
are unwilling to review the mode of its exercise by refer-
ence to "judicial" standards. Does this mean· that such dis-
cretionary powers are legally absolute, totally immune
from judicial review? To this question there is no short
answer.

(1) Parliament (or, to put the matter more realistically, the c
· Government) may purport to exclude judicial review by
means of special statutory formulae which, if construed
literally, would deprive the courts of jurisdiction.

(2) No discretionary power is reviewable unless somebody D
has locus standi in impugn the validity of its exercise.

(3) If it is claimed that the authority for the exercise of
discretion derives from the royal prerogative, the courts
have traditionally limited reveiw to questions of vires in the
narrowest sense of the term. They can determine whether E
the prerogative power exists, what is its extent, whether it
has been exercised in the appropriate form and how far it
has been superseded by statute; they have not normally
been prepared to examine the appropriateness or adequacy
of the grounds for exercising the power, or the fairness of
the procedure followed before the power is exercised, and F
they will not allow bad faith to be attributed to the
Crown.''

Although the weight of authority iri England favours only narrow
grounds for judicial review of the exercise of prerogative powers, there
is not a total absence of support for the view that in some circumst- G
ances at least the Court may apply somewhat broader standards of
. review. See: De Smith's Judicial Review of Administrative Action, 4th
edn., pp. 285-287; H.W.R. Wade's Administrative Law, 5th edn.
pp. 350 et. seq.; Foulkes' Administrative Law, 6th edn., pp. 213-215,
219-225; Applications for Judicial Review, Law and Practice by
Grahame Aldous and John Alder, p. 105; and D.C.M. Yardley's H
716 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988) Supp. 1 S.C.R. "'
Principles of Administrative Law, 2nd edn. pp. 65--07.
A
In recent years, the concept of the rule of law in England has
been undergoing a radical change. The present trend of judicial
opinion is to restrict the doctrine of immunity of prerogative powers
from judicial review where purely governmental functions are directly
B attributable to the royal prerogative, such as whether a treaty should
be concluded or the armed forces deployed in a particular manner or
Parliament dissolved on one day rather another, etc. The shift in
approach to judicial interpretation that has taken place during the last
few years is attributable in large part to the efforts of.Lord Denning in
Laker Airways' case. The attempt was to project the principles laid
down in Padfie/d's caSe into the exercise of discretionary powers by the
c executive derived from the prerogative, and to equate prerogative and
statutory powers for purposes of judicial review, subject to just excep-
tions. Thus, the present trend of judicial opinion is to restrict the
doctrine of immunity from judicial review to those class of cases which
relate to deployment of troops, entering into international treaties,
D etc. The distinctive features of some of these recent cases signify the .,
willingness of the Courts to assert their .power to scrutinise the factual
bases upon which discretionary powers have been exercised.

The decision of the House of Lords in Padfield's case is an
important landmark in the current era of judicial activism in this area
E of administrative law. The Minister had refused to appoint a commit-
tee, as he was statutorily empowered to do when he thought fit, to
investigate complaints made by members of the Milk Marketing Board
that the majority of the Board had fixed milk prices in a way that was
unduly unfavourable to the complainants. The Minister's reason for
refusing to accede to the complainants' request inter a/ia was that 'it
F would be politically embarrassing for him if he decided not to imple-
ment the committee's recommendations'. The House of Lords held
that the Minister's discretion was not unfettered and that the reasons
that he had given for his refusal showed that he had acted ultra vires by
taking into account factors that were legally irrelevant and by using his
power in a way calculated to frustrate the policy of the Act. The view
G was also expressed by four of the Law Lords that even if the Minister
had given no reasons for his decision, it would have been open to the
Court to infer that the Minister had acted unlawfully if he had declined
to supply any justification at all for his decision: De Smith's
Administrative Law, 4th edn., p. 294. More recently, in Laker
.,,
Airways case and in Secretary of State for Education and Science v.
H Tameside M.B. C., LR 1977 AC 1014 both the Court of Appeal and the
J.R. RAGHUPA1HY v. STAIB OF A.P. !SEN, J.) 717

House of Lords have set aside as ultra vires the exercise of discretion
A
that included a substantial subjective element.

In Padfield's case the scarcely veiled allusion to fear of parlia-
mentary trouble was, in particular, a political reason which was quite
. extraneous and inadmissible. Lord Reid during the course of his judg-
ment emphatically and unequivocally rejected the contention that the B
discretion of the Minister was absolute, in these words:

"Parliament must have conferred the discretion with· the
intention that it should be used to promote the policy and
objects of the Act; the policy and objects of the Act must
be detel1)1ined ·by construing the Act as a whole and
construction is always a matter of law for the Court. In a
c
matter of this kind it is not possible to draw a hard a.nd fast
line, but if the Minister, by reason, so uses his discretion as
to thwart or run counter to the policy and objects of the
Act, then our law would be very defective if persons
aggrieved were not entitled to the protection of the Court." D

Lord Upjohn said that the Minister's stated reasons showed a
complete misapprehension of his duties, and were all bad in law. Lord
Denning in another case observed that the decision in Padfield marked
the evolution of judicial opinion that the Court could intervene if the
Minister 'plainly misdirects himself in fact or in law'. The importance E
of the decision of the House of Lords~ Padfield's case was underlined
by Lord Denning in Breen v. Amalgamated Engineering Union, LR
19712 QB 175 at p. 190, in these words:

"The discretion of a statutory body is never unfettered. It is
a discretion which is to be exercised according to law. That F
means at least this: the statutory body must be guided by
relevant considerations and not by irrelevant. If its decision
is idfluenced by extraneous considerations which it ought
notr to have taken into account, then the decision cannot
stand. No matter that the statutory body may have acted in
gbod faith; nevertheless the decision will be set aside. That G
.jg ' established by Padfield v. Minister of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food, which is a landmark in modem
administrative law."

In Ltiker Airways' case, the Court of Appeal was concerned with ,
the pow,er of Minister to give directions to the Civil Aviation H
('
718 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1988) Supp. 1 S.C.R.

authorities overriding specific provisions in the statute in time of war,
A
in the interests of national security or international relations or protec-
tion of the environment. In his judgment, Lord Denning M.R. held
tha! the review of the prerogative is assimilated to that of statutory
power, so that its exercise may be impugned for 'misdirection in fact or
in law'. Lord Denning M.R. discussed the nature of the prerogative
B and said;
t
"Seeing that the prerogative is' a discretionary power to be
exercised for the public good, it follows that its exercise can
be examined .by the courts just as any other discretionary
power which is vesteo in the executive."
c He. then went on to say that the prerogative powers were as much
capable of a])use as any other power and therefore subject to judicial
review and observed:

"Likewise it seems to me that when discretionary powers
D are entrusted to the executive by the prerogative-in
• I
pursuance of the treaty-making power-the courts can ex-
amine the exercise of them so as to see that they ate not
used improperly or mistakenly."

This observation has given rise to considerable debate.
E
The majority, however, proceeded on a narrower basis conclud-
ing that the Civil Aviation Act, 1971 had impliedly superseded the
Crown's prerogative in foreign affairs, and that the holder of a licence
under the statute could not be deprived of its commercial value by a
decision on the part of the Secretary to State or revoke the licensee's
F status as a designated carrier under the Bermuda Agreement. In other
respects, the majority accepted the orthodox position on the unreview-
ability of the exercise of the prerogative, per Roskill and Lawton, L.
Jj. Lord Denning however went further and held that the Court could
intervene if a Minister 'plainly misdirects himself in fact or in law'.

G Another important case in this context is R. V. Criminal Injuries
Compensation lloard, exp. Lain, I196712 QB 864. The question in this
case was whether payments made by the Board to victims of crime
were subject to judicial review, The difficulty was that Lord Reid's
phrase 'power to make decisions affecting rights' in Ridge v. Baldwin,
(1964) AC 40 was taken to,tefer to legal rights, whereas the Criminal
...
H In.juries Compensation Scheme was not said to be by legislation but
J.R. RAGHUPATIIY v. STA1E OF A.P. [SEN, J.[ 719

just as an administrative expedience by means of internal departmen-
A
tal circulars. So payments made under the Scheme were not, strictly, a
matter of legal right but were ex gratia. On the other hand, the cri!e-
rion on which payments were made were laid down in some detail and
were very much like any 'Jaw rules for assessment of damages in tort.
So the Board, like the Courts, was meant to be focussing. on the indi-
viduals before it, in deciding whether to make an award and how much B
to award. It was strenuously argued that the Board was not subject to
the jurisdiction of the Courts since it did not have what was described
as legal authority in the sense of statutory authority. This argument
was emphatically and unanimously rejected. In his judgment Lord
Parke·r, CJ. said:

"I can see no reason either in principle or in authority why C
a board, set up as this board were set up, should not be a
body of persons amenable to the jurisdiction of this Court.
True the board are not set up by statute but the fact that
they are set up by executive government, i.e., under the
.. prerogative, does not render their acts any the less lawful. o
Indeed, the writ of certiorari has been issued not only to
courts set up by statute but to courts whose authority was
derived;.inter aii4, from the prerogative. Once the jurisdic-
tion is extended, as it clearly has been, to tribm;iills as
opposed to courts, there is no reason why the remedy by
way of certiorari cannot be invoked to a body of persons set E
up ·under the prerogative.

"Moreover the board, though set up under the prerogative
and not by statute-, had in fact therecogn;tion of Parlia-
ment in debate and Parliament provided the money to
satisfy the board's awards." F

See also the judgment of Lord Diplock, LJ.

The ratio derived from Ex parte La.in's decision can best be
stated in these words: ·
G
"Powers derived from the royal prerogative are public law
powers."

It therefore follows that a non-statutory inferior authority like the
Board albeit constituted under the prerogative powers, is just as well
amenable to the .iurisdiction of the Court as a statutory body. It is clear H
720 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] Supp. 1 S.C.R.

that certiorari will lie where a decision has de facto effect upon the
A
individual and it is not necessary to show that the 'right' in question is
legally enforceable.

In Council of Civil Service Unions & Ors. v. Minister for the Civil
Service, [ 1984] 3 All E.R. 935 the House of Lords reiterated broader
B standards of review of the exercise of prerogative powers. The princi-
ples deducible .are clearly brought out in the headnote extracted
~-= .
"(1) Powers exercised directly under the prerogative are
qot by virtue of their prerogative source automatically
immune from judicial review. If the subject matter of a
c prerogative power is justiciable then the exercise of the
power is open to judicial review in the same way as a statut-
ory power. However (per Lord Roskill), prerogative I
powers such as those relating to the making of treaties, the
defence of the realm, the prerogative of mercy, the grant of
D honours, the dissolution of Parliament and the appoint-
ment of ministers are not justiciable or reviewable.
(2) Administrative action is subject to control by judicial
review under three heads: ·(i) illegality, where the
decision-making authority has been guilty of an error of
..
law, e.g. by purporting to exercise a power it does not
·E possess; (ii) irrationality, where the decision-making
authority has acted so unreasonably that no reasonable
authority would have made the decision; (iii) procedural
impropriety, where the decision-making authority h'.'s
failed in its duty to act fairly."

F Lord Diplock in his speech found no reason why simply because the
decision-making power is derived from a common law and not a statu-
tory source, it should for that reason be immune judicial review, and
observed:

"Judicial review has I think developed to a stage today
G when, without reiterating any analysis of the steps by which
the development has come about, one can conveniently
classify under three heads the grounds on which adminis-
trative action is subject to control by judicial review. The
first ground I would call 'illegality', the second 'irrationa- ..,._
lity' and the third 'procedural impropriety'."
H
. ., J.R. RAGHUPATIIY v. STAIB OF A.P. [SEN, J.J 721

We should also refer to the illuminating judgment of Lord Roskill who
A
found no logical reason to see why the fact that the source of the power
is the prerogative and not statute, should today deprive the citizen of
that right of challenge to the manner of its exercise which he would
possess were the source of the power statutory. In either case, the act
in question is the act of the executive. The learned Judge agreed with B
the conclusions reached by Lord Scarman and Lord Diplock and
observed: "To talk of that act as the act of the sovereigu savours of the
j archaism of past centuries." We may with advantage quote the follow-
ing passage from his judgment;

"Dicey's classic statement in Law of the Constitution (10th
edn., 1959) p. 424 that the prerogative is 'the residue of c
discretionary or arbitrary authority, which at any given
time is legally left in the hands of the Crown, has the weight
behind it not only of the author's own authority but also of
the majority of this House in Burmah Oil Co. (Burma
Trading) Ltd. v. Lord Advocate, (1964] 2 All ER 348 at D
353, per Lord Reid. But as Lord Reid himself pointed out,
this definition 'does not take us very far'. On the other
hand the attempt by Lord Denning, MR in Laker Airways
Ltd. v. Dept. of Trade, (1977] 2 All ER 182 at 192, (obiter)
since the other members of the Court of Appeal did not
take so broad a view) to asert that the prerogative 'if ; .... E
exercised improperly or mistakenly' was reviewable is, with
great respect, far too wide. Lord Denning MR sought to
support his view by a quotation from Blackstone's Com-
mentaries (1 Bl Com (15th edn) 252). But unfortunately
and no doubt inadvertently he omitted the opening words
of the paragraph: F

"In the exercise therefore of those prerogatives,
which the law has given him, the King is irresistible
and absolute, according to the forms of the constitu-
tion. And yet, if the consequence of that exertion be
manifestly to the grievance or dishonour of the king- G
dom, the parliament will call his advisers to a just and
severe account.''

In short the orthodox view was at that time that the
I~
remedy for abuse of the prerogative lay in the political and
not in the judicial field. H
722 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1988] Supp. 1 S.C.R.

But, fascinating as it is to explore this mainstream of
A
our legal history, to do so in connection with the present
appeal has an air of reality. To speak today of the acts of
the sovereign as 'irresistible and absolute' when modem
constitutional convention requires that all such acts are
done by the sovereign on the advice of and will be carried
B out by the sovereign's ministers currently in power is surely
to hamper the continual development of our administrative
law by harking back to what Lord Atkin once called, albeit
in a different context, the clanking of medieval chains of
the ghosts of the past.''

The effect of all these decisions is admirably summed up by
C Grahame Aldous and John Alder in their Applications for Judicial
Review, Law and Practice thus:

"There is a general presumption against ousting the juris-
diction of the courts, so that statutory provisions which
D purport to exclude judicial review are construed restric-
tively. There are, however, certain areas of governmental
activity, national security being the paradigm, which the
courts regard themselves as incompetent to investigate,
beyond an initial decision as to whether the government's
claim is bona fide. In this kind of non-justiciable area judi-
E cial review is not entirety excluded, but very limited. It has
also been said that powers conferred by the Royal Preroga-
tive are inherently unreviewable but since the speeches of
the House of Lords in Council of Civil Service Union v.
Minister for the Civil Service, this is doubtful. Lords
Diplock, Scarman and Roskill appeared to agree that there
F is no general distinction between power&1 based upon
whether their source is statutory or prerogative but that
judicial review can be limited by the subject matter of a
particu\ar power, in that case national security. Many pre-
rogative powers are in fact concerned with sensitive, non-
justiciabte areas, for example foreign affairs, but some are
G reviewable in principle, including the prerogatives relating
to the civil ·service where national security is not involved.
Another non-justiciable power is the Attorney General's
prerogative to decidf whether to institute legal proceedings
on beh·alf of the public interest."

H Much of the above discussion is of little or academic interest as
J.R. RAGHUPATHY v. STATE OF A.P. [SEN, J.] 723

the jurisdiction of the High Court to grant an appropriate writ, direc-
A
tion or order under Art. 226 of the Constitution is not subject to the
archaic constraints on which prerogative writs were .issued in England.
Most of the cases in which the English courts had earlier enunciated
their limited power to pass on the legality of the exercise of the pre-
rogative were decided at a time when the Courts took a generally
rather circumscribed view of their ability to review Ministerial statu- B
tory discretion. The decision of the House of Lords in Padfield's case
• marks the emergence of the interventionist judicial attitude that has
characterized many recent judgments. In view of the recent Clecision of
the House of Lords in Council of Civil Service Unions, it would be
premature to conclude that in no circumstances would the Court be
prepared to apply to the exercise by the Crown of some non-statutory
powers the same criterion for review as would be applicable were the c
discretion conferred by statute. In the ultimate analysis, the present
trend of judicial opinion in England on the question as to whether a
'prerogative' power is reviewable or not depends on whether its
subject-matter is suitable for judicial control. All that we need is
to end this part of the judgment by extracting the cautionary note D
administered by H.W.R. Wade in his Administrative Law, 5th edn. at
p. 352 in these words:

"On the one hand, where Parliament confers power upon
some minister or other authority to be used in discretion, it
is obvious that the discretion ought to be that of the E
designated authority and not that of the court. Whether the
discretion is exercised prudently or imprudently, the
authority's word is to be law and the remedy is to be politi-
cal only. On the other hand, Parliament cannot be sup-
posed to have intended that the power should .be open to
serious abuse. It must have assumed that the designated F
authority would act properly and responsibly, with a view
to doing what was best in the public interest and most con-
sistent with the policy of the statute. It is from this pre-
sumption that the courts take their warrant to impose legal
bounds on even the most extensive discretion."
G
We find it rather difficult ·to sustain the judgment of the High
Court in some of the cases where it has interfered with the location of
Mandal Headquarters and quashed the impugned notifications on the
•. 1> ground that the Government acted in breach of the guidelines in that
one place or the other. was more centrally located or that location at
the other place would promote general public convenience, or that the H
724 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988) Supp. 1 S.C.R.

A headquarters should be fixed at a particular place with a view fo
develop the area surrounded by it. The location of headquarters by the
Government by the issue of the final notification under sub-s. (5) of
s. 3 of the Act was on a consideration by the Cabinet Sub-Committee
of the proposals submitted by the Collectors concerned and the objec-
tions and suggestions received from the local authorities like the gram
B
panchayats and the general public. Even assuming that the Govern-
ment while accepting the recommendations of the Cabinet Sub
Committee directed that the Manda! Headquarters should be at place
'X' rather than place 'Y' as recommended by the Collector concerned
in a particular case, the High Court would not have issued a writ in the
nature of mandamus to enforce the guidelines which were nothing
c more than administrative instructions not having any statutory force,
which did not give rise to any legal right in favour of the writ
petitioners.

The result therefore is that Civil Appeals Nos. 1980, 1982;·19~5
and 1987 of 1986 and all other appeals and special leave petitions
[}
directed against the judgment of the High Court where it has inter-
fered with the location of the Manda! Headquarters, must succeed and
are allowed. The petition filed by the appellants under Art. 226 of the
Constitution before the High Court are accordingly dismissed. There
shall be no order as to costs.

S.L

..