Delegation of adjudicatory power to a tribunal registrar invalid where the statute permits only limited administrative functions.

The Act and the Rules created a specialised tribunal and confined the Registrar to limited administrative and scrutiny functions. Rule 22 restricted the Registrar to custody of records and functions assigned by the Rules or by separate written order, while Rule 23 allowed only specified additional powers under the Presiding Officer's control. On that scheme, the Registrar could not be given adjudicatory power over interlocutory applications, including substitution of legal representatives, through a general office order. In the absence of express statutory authority, judicial power could not be delegated. The office order was therefore invalid, the consequential order could not stand, and the matter was remitted to the Tribunal for reconsideration in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the office order delegating to the Registrar the power to deal with interlocutory applications, including substitution of legal representatives and other judicial matters, was valid under the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 and the Debt Recovery Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1993.

Analysis: The Act creates a specialised adjudicatory tribunal and the Rules confer on the Registrar only limited administrative and scrutiny functions. Rule 22 confines the Registrar to custody of records and functions assigned by the Rules or by separate written order, while Rule 23 permits only specified additional powers subject to the Presiding Officer's control. A combined reading of the Act and Rules shows that the Registrar is not vested with judicial power and cannot exercise adjudicatory functions by a general office order. Since statutory judicial power is sacred and cannot be delegated in the absence of express authority, the office order granting such powers to the Registrar went beyond the rule-making scheme and was inconsistent with the Act and Rules.

Conclusion: The office order was invalid and liable to be quashed. The consequential order passed by the Registrar also could not stand. The writ petition was therefore allowed, and the matter was remitted to the Tribunal for reconsideration of the interlocutory applications in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute creates a tribunal and assigns only limited administrative or scrutiny functions to its Registrar, adjudicatory powers cannot be conferred on the Registrar by an office order unless the statute or rules expressly permit such delegation.

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