TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2020 (2) TMI 852
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....s : "(a) To issue a writ of mandamus and/or any other writ, order or direction, directing to quash and set aside the Notification No.EST/1/Jurisdiction/B.2168 dated 05.07.2017 issued by the Commissioner of State Tax, Gujarat State at Annexure-A to the petition. (b) Pending admission, final hearing and disposal of this petition, to stay implementation and operation of the Notification No.EST/1/Jurisdiction/B.2168 dated 05.07.2017 issued by the Commissioner of State Tax, Gujarat State at Annexure-A to the petition. (c) Pending admission, final hearing and disposal of this petition to release the petitioner's son Paresh Nathalal Chauhan as he has been arrested under the authorization issued by Additional Commissioner of State Tax exercising powers under Section 69 of the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 relying on the Notification dated 05.07.2017 at Annexure-A to this petition. (d) Pass such other and further orders as the Hon'ble Court deems just and expedient. (e) To provide for the cost of this petition to the petitioner." 4. The facts giving rise to the present writ-application may be summarised as under : 5. It i....
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.... respondents from exercising powers under Section 69 read with Section 132 of CGST or GGST without following due process of law of assessment and adjudication of alleged evasion of GST as contemplated under Section 61, Section 73 or under Section 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 i.e. before following provisions of Chapter XII of Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and Chapter VIII of Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 and Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 in connection with investigation initiated by the State Tax, Unit-22, Ahmedabad on such terms and conditions which may be deemed fit and proper to this Hon'ble Court and in the interest of the petitioner. (D) Pending admission, final hearing and disposal of this petition, to direct the respondents to release the petitioner's family members from house arrest and/or to remove the officials of the respondents from the petitioner's residential premises being Flat No.104, Aryavrat Heights, Prernatirth Derasar Road, Satellite, Ahmedabad. (E) To pass any other and further orders i....
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.... (a) a taxable person has suppressed any transaction relating to supply of goods or services or both or the stock of goods in hand, or has claimed input tax credit in excess of his entitlement under this Act or has indulged in contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder to evade tax under this Act; or (b) any person engaged in the business of transporting goods or an owner or operator of a warehouse or a godown or any other place is keeping goods which have escaped payment of tax or has kept his accounts or goods in such a manner as is likely to cause evasion of tax payable under this Act, he may authorise in writing any other officer of central tax to inspect any places of business of the taxable person or the persons engaged in the business of transporting goods or the owner or the operator of warehouse or godown or any other place. (2) Where the proper officer, not below the rank of Joint Commissioner, either pursuant to an inspection carried out under sub-section (1) or otherwise, has reasons to believe that any goods liable to confiscation or any documents or books or things, which in his opinion shall be useful for or....
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....ed to the person from whose possession they were seized: Provided that the period of six months may, on sufficient cause being shown, be extended by the proper officer for a further period not exceeding six months. (8) The Government may, having regard to the perishable or hazardous nature of any goods, depreciation in the value of the goods with the passage of time, constraints of storage space for the goods or any other relevant considerations, by notification, specify the goods or class of goods which shall, as soon as may be after its seizure under sub-section (2), be disposed of by the proper officer in such manner as may be prescribed. (9) Where any goods, being goods specified under subsection (8), have been seized by a proper officer, or any officer authorised by him under sub-section (2), he shall prepare an inventory of such goods in such manner as may be prescribed. (10) The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, relating to search and seizure, shall, so far as may be, apply to search and seizure under this section subject to the modification that sub-section (5) of section 165 of the said Code shall have effect as if for ....
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.... already seized on 11.10.2019. The entire exercise carried out by the concerned officers from 12.10.2019 to 18.10.2019 was totally without any authority of law and in flagrant disregard of the provisions of the Act and the rules and in total abuse of the powers vested in them under the Act. The manner in which the officers have conducted themselves by overreaching the process of law and acting beyond the powers vested in them under sub-section (2) of section 67 of the CGST Act needs to be deprecated in the strictest terms. Therefore, a proper inquiry needs to be made in respect of the action of the respondent officers of staying day and night at the premises of the petitioner without any authority of law. 6. In the aforesaid premises, the first respondent Commissioner of State Tax, Ahmedabad shall carry out a proper inquiry in the matter and submit a report before this court on or before 13th November, 2019. 7. Stand over to 13th November, 2019. 8. Registry to forthwith forward a copy of this order to the Commissioner of State Tax as well as Chief Secretary of the State to look into the matter and do the needful to ensure that such incidents are not repea....
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.... Act, 2017, the Commissioner or the Additional Director General of Central Tax would exercise the power under Section 69 of the Act, 2017. The Additional Commissioner of State Tax is subordinate in rank compared to the Commissioner of Central Tax. He pointed out that for the GGST Act, 2017, it is the Additional Commissioner of State Tax who would be exercising the power under Section 69 of the Act on the strength of the impugned Notification whereas, under the CGST Act, 2017, it is the Commissioner or the Additional Director General who would be exercising the powers. 13. Mr.Pandya, the learned counsel would vehemently submit that assuming for the moment that the Commissioner of Tax has been empowered by the statute to delegate his powers, the statute at the same time has also deemed it fit to say in so many words in Section 69 of the Act that the reasonable belief should be that of the Commissioner. The contention raised is on the footing that wherever power is to be exercised based on the reasonable belief of the authority, then such a power cannot be delegated though the statute empowers the authority to do so. In other words, Mr.Pandya drew a distinction between a particular....
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....ointed out that prosecution has also been instituted against the son of the writ-applicant for the offence punishable under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 70(1) of the GGST Act, 2017, and the CGST Act, 2017. The Criminal Case No.104117 of 2019 is pending as on date in the court of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Ahmedabad. 19. Mr.Trivedi further seeks to rely on the following averments made in the affidavit-in-reply filed on behalf of the respondents : "In this regard, before adverting to the contents of the averments as canvassed by the Petitioner before this Hon'ble Court, the Respondent authorities crave leave of this Hon'ble Court to submit on the history attached to the son of the present Petitioner. The son of the present Petitioner is involved in a multi-crore scam wherein on the premise of billing transactions, the son of the present Petitioner has operated numbers of fake entities and illegally claimed huge input tax credit running in crores of rupees and also illegally transferred Input Tax Credit to various entities, through such fake entities. In this regard, a complaint came to be registered under Section 174 of....
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....us committees viz. law committee, fitment committee, etc. at New Delhi, and therefore, was required to travel frequently. Moreover, as the Government of India had come out with an entirely new tax regime, the Commissioner was also called upon by various institutions and chambers for explaining the modalities and complexities attached with the new tax regime. Therefore, for effective and appropriate administration of the new tax regime, at relevant point of time i.e. on 05.07.2017, the concerned Commissioner in its wisdom decided to delegate powers to senior officers of the cadre so that the administration is not disturbed. Moreover, the Commissioner of State Tax is the Head of the entire department is required to look after the administration of the entire department. Therefore, considering the administrative flexibilities and practical difficulty, the notification under challenge was published by the then Commissioner of State Tax. 8. It is respectfully submitted that it could have never been the intention of the legislature/object of the Act not to empower the Commissioner to delegate his powers, inasmuch as, in absence thereof, the same would lead to a situation, where ....
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....cerned Commissioner to delegate its powers, including the powers relating to search, detention and seizure to any other officer subordinate to him. This position has been in vogue right from the inception of the said legislations and that, therefore, similar delegation under the provisions of GGST Act by the Commissioner in favour of his subordinate, in relatively at a lower rank, would not become bad in law, merely because what is been delegated is likely to entail drastic consequences: (a) Section 152 of the Customs Act; (b) Section 37A of the Excise Act; (c) Other State GST Acts. 12. Now, as far as the contention of the Petitioner with regard to the arrest memorandum dated 31.12.2019 not having Document Identification Number is concerned, it is submitted that the said contention is also not tenable under law, inasmuch as, till date, the State of Gujarat has not issued any notification under the GGST Act making it mandatory for generation and quoting of Document Identification Number on any of its document. In absence of such notification, the arrest memorandum issued under the GGST Act, without having Document Identification Number, could not ....
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....Act and discharge the duties conferred or imposed on him under this Act. (2) An officer of State tax may exercise the powers and discharge the duties conferred or imposed under this Act on any other officer of State tax who is subordinate to him. (3) The Commissioner may, subject to such conditions and limitations as may be specified in this behalf by him, delegate his powers to any other officer who is subordinate to him. (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, an Appellate Authority shall not exercise the powers and discharge the duties conferred or imposed on any other officer of State tax." 26. Section 69 is with regard to the power to arrest. Section 69 reads thus : "69. Power to arrest. (1) Where the Commissioner has reasons to believe that a person has committed any offence specified in clause (a) or clause (b) or clause (c) or clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 132 which is punishable under clause (i) or (ii) of sub-section (1), or sub-section (2) of the said section, he may, by order, authorise any officer of State tax to arrest such person. (2) Where a person is arrested under sub-section (1) f....
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....ficer, of the rank of Joint Commissioner or above, has reason to believe the existence of such exceptional circumstances. In such cases, the Joint Commissioner may authorise, in writing, any other officer to cause inspection, search and seizure. However, in case of arrests the same can be carried out only where the person is accused of offences specified for this purpose and the tax amount involved is more than specified limit. Further, the arrests under GST Act can be made only under authorisation from the Commissioner. 3. The circumstances which may warrant exercise of these options are as follows : (i) Inspection 'Inspection' is a softer provision than search which enables officers to access any place of business or of a person engaged in transporting goods or who is an owner or an operator of a warehouse or godown. As discussed above the inspection can be carried out by an officer of CGST/SGST only upon a written authorization given by an officer of the rank of Joint Commissioner or above a Joint Commissioner or an officer higher in rank can give such authorization only if he has reasons to believe that the person concerned has done o....
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....; (b) All such goods/documents/books/record/things may be seized, however, if it is not practicable to seize any such goods then the same may be detained. The person from whom these are seized shall be entitled to take copies/extracts of seized records; (c) The seized documents/books/things shall be retained only till the time the same are required for examination/enquiry/proceedings and if these are not relied on for the case then the same shall be returned within 30 days from the issuance of show cause notice; (d) The seized goods shall be provisionally released on execution of bond and furnishing a security or on payment of applicable tax, interest and penalty; Recovery of tax (e) In case of seizure of goods, a notice has to be issued within six months, if no notice is issued within a period of six months then all such goods shall be returned. However, this period of six months can be extended by Commissioner for another six months on sufficient cause; (f) An inventory of the seized goods/documents/ records is required to be made by the officer and the person, from whom the same are seized, shall be given a copy of the same. ....
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....e and in such cases the bail can be considered by a Magistrate only." 29. We shall now look into the impugned Notification. The impugned Notification reads thus : "NOTIFICATION Commissioner of State Tax Gujarat State, Ahmedabad Dated the 5th July 2017 No. EST/1/Jurisdiction/B.2168 In exercise of the power conferred under sub-section (3) of section 5 of the Gujarat goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (Guj.25 of 2017), the Commissioner of State Tax hereby delegates all the functions under the said Act to the Special Commissioner of State Tax and the Additional Commissioners of State Tax for carrying out the purposes of the said Act. The said functions delegated as above shall be under the overall supervision of the Commissioner." 30. The delegation is the act of making or commissioning a delegate. It generally means parting of powers by the person who grants the delegation and conferring of an authority to do things which otherwise that person would have to do himself. Delegation is defined in the Black's Law Dictionary as "the act of entrusting another with the authority by empowering another to act as an agent or representative". In P.Ramanatha A....
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.... a rule of law. It indicates a rule of construction of a statute or other instrument conferring an authority. Prima facie, a discretion conferred by a statute on any authority is intended to be exercised by that authority and by no other. However, the intention may be negatived by any contrary indications in the language, scope or object of the statute. The construction that would best achieve the purpose and object of the statute should be adopted. 32. The Supreme Court, in the case of Sahni Silk Mills (P) Ltd. and another v. Employees' State Insurance Corporation, reported in (1994)5 SCC 346, considered the question, whether the power under Section 85B of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948, could have been exercised by the Regional Directors of the Corporation. The argument before the Supreme Court was that the power could have been exercised either by the Corporation or by the Director General of the said Corporation. The Supreme Court noticed that the power of the Corporation to recover the damages under Section 85B had not been questioned. The controversy was, whether such power could have been delegated under Section 94A to the Regional Directors. The Supreme....
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....land, 4th Edition, Volume I in respect of sub-delegation of powers it has been said : "In accordance with the maxim delegatus non potest delegare , a statutory power must be exercised only by the body or officer in whom it has been confided, (H. Lavender and Sons Ltd. v. Minister of Housing and Local Government, 1970 (3) All ER 871) unless sub-delegation of the power is authorised by express words or necessary implication (Customs and Excise Commrs. v. Cure and Deeley Ltd., 1962 (1) QB 340 K, 1961 (3) All ER 641 and Mungoni v. A. S. G. of Northern Rhodesia, 1960(1) All ER 446 PC etc.). There is a strong presumption against construing a grant of legislative, judicial, or disciplinary power as impliedly authorising sub-delegation; and the same may be said of any power to the exercise of which the designated body should address its own mind. Allam and Co. v. Europa Poster Services Ltd., 1968 (1) All ER 826......." 9. In the case of Harishankar Bagla v. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR 1954 SC 465 at 468, while examining the scope of S.4 of the Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Act, 1946 it was said : "S.4 of the Act was attacked on the ground that it empower....
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....egated by the Corporation may in his turn authorise any other officer to exercise or perform that power or function. But by the resolution dated 28-2-1976 the Corporation has not only delegated its power under S.85B(i) of the Act to the Director General, but has also empowered the Director General to authorise any other officer to exercise the said power. Unless it is held that S.94A of the Act enables the Corporation to delegate any of its powers and functions to any officer or authority subordinate to the Corporation, and he in his turn can sub-delegate the exercise of the said power to any other officer, the last part of the resolution dated 28-2-1976 cannot be held to be within the framework of S.94A. According to us, the Parliament while introducing S.94A in the Act, only conceived direct delegation by the Corporation to different officers or authorities, subordinate to the Corporation, and there is no scope for such delegate to sub-delegate that power, by authorising any other officer to exercise or perform the power so delegated." 33. In State of Bihar and others v. Anil Kumar and others, reported in (2017)14 SCC 304, the question that fell for the consideration of the Su....
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....with it (under Section 9 of the 'SCST Act'), to vest such powers of arrest, investigation and prosecution, with police officer(s) below the rank of the police officer postulated and provided for under the 'SCST Rules'. It was submitted, that under Rule 7 of the above rules, the powers of arrest, investigation and prosecution are mandated to be exercised by a police officer, not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police. It was therefore submitted, that extension of the investigating power, to a police officer/official below the expressly postulated rank, was not permissible. 16. In order to support his above assertion, learned counsel for the appellant - accused, also drew our attention to sub-section (2), of Section 9, of the 'SCST Act', and on the basis thereof contended, that from a plain and simple interpretation of the language adopted by the legislature, in sub-section (2) of Section 9, it would emerge, that the additional conferment of authority (with reference to arrest, investigation and prosecution), could only be extended to an officer, other than a police officer. 16. In order to appreciate the contention of learned coun....
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.... to vest with "... any officer of the State Government ..." the power of arrest, investigation and prosecution, by augmenting the zone provided for through a non obstante clause. Obviously therefore, the right to delegate such powers of arrest, investigation and prosecution, vested with the State Government, was irrespective of the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Not only that, the above power could be exercised, irrespective of the provisions of the parent 'SCST Act' itself. It is therefore apparent, that Section 9, was aimed at, and provided for, an effective mechanism for arrest, investigation and prosecution, in addition to the provisions in place. In case the State Government found the same as necessary and expedient, for an effective implementation of the provisions of the 'SCST Act', it had the right and the responsibility, to vest the power of arrest, investigation and prosecution, in additional personnel. Stated differently, in case the State Government was satisfied, that the officers vested with such powers, in consonance with the provisions of the 'SCST Act', were insufficient to carry out the purposes of the 'SCST Act', the....
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....omebody else, is the question to be considered. Once the power is conferred, after exercising the said power, how to implement the decision taken in the process, is a matter of procedure. The Legislature may, after laying down the legislative policy, confer discretion on an administrative agency as to the execution of the policy and leave it to the agency to work out the details within the framework of that policy. So long as the essential functions of decision making is performed by the delegate, the burden of performing the ancillary and clerical task need not be shouldered by the primary delegate. It is not necessary that the primary delegate himself should perform the ministerial acts as well. In furtherance of the implementation of the decision already taken by the primary delegate as per the delegation, ministerial or clerical tasks may be performed by authorized officers. The complexity of modern day administration and the expansion of functions of the State to the economic and social spheres have made it necessary that the Legislature gives wide powers to various authorities when the situation requires it. Today's governmental functions are a lot more complex and the ne....
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....ormed by the Judges. Receiving a cause or a document and making it presentable to a Judge for the purpose of hearing or trial and many a functions post decision, which functions are administrative and ministerial in nature, can be and are generally entrusted or made over to be discharged by the staff of the High Court, often by making a provision in the Rules or under the orders of the Chief Justice or by issuing practice directions, and at times, in the absence of rules, by sheer practice. The practice gathers the strength of law and the older the practice the greater is the strength......" 7. Practical necessities or exigencies of administration require that the decision making authority who has been conferred with statutory power, be able to delegate tasks when the situation so requires. Thus, the maxim delegatus non potest delegare, gives way in the performance of administrative or ministerial tasks by subordinate authorities in furtherance of the exercise of the delegated power by an authority. 8. It would also be useful in this context to refer to the decision of this Court in Barium Chemicals Limited and another v. The Company Law Board and another5wherein ....
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.....8.1990. The lease deed was executed by the Land Manager of the Kolkata Port Trust. On 5.2.2008, a letter was issued to the said petitioner to demolish an alleged unauthorized construction and eject the sub-tenants from the premises. The petitioner submitted its reply on 2.5.2008. Not satisfied with the reply, on 30.01.2009, a notice terminating the lease was issued. The ejectment notice was signed by the Land Manager. The main contention is that the ejectment notice issued by the Land Manager is illegal and without jurisdiction as he is not competent to issue such ejectment notices. In the case of Siddhartha Sarawgi, the leases were terminated during the subsistence of the renewed period of 30 years, on the ground of sub-letting without consent of the Kolkata Port Trust. In his case also, the ejectment notices were issued by the Land Manager and, hence, it is contended that there can be no eviction on the basis of ejectment notice issued by a person who is not competent to do so, the same being without jurisdiction. The said ejectment notices were challenged by both the petitioners before the Calcutta High Court. In the case of Universal Autocrafts Private Limited, the learned sin....
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....of the Chairman." 14. Section 34 of the Act provides for the mode of executing contracts on behalf of Board. It is provided therein that every contract is to be made by the Chairman or any other officer of the Board not below the rank of the Head of a Department as authorized by the Chairman, on behalf of the Board. The provision reads as follows: "34. Mode of executing contracts on behalf of Board.- (1) Every contract shall, on behalf of a Board, be made by the Chairman or by any such officer of the Board not below the rank of the Head of a Department as the Chairman may, by general or special order, authorise in this behalf and shall be sealed with the common seal of the Board: Provided that no contract whereof the value or amount exceeds such value or amount as the Central Government may from time to time fix in this behalf shall be made unless it has been previously approved by the Board: Provided further that no contract for the acquisition or sale of immovable property or for the lease of any such property for a term exceeding thirty years, and no other contract whereof the value or amount exceeds such value or amount as the Centra....
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....minate has been taken by the Chairman only and there is no dispute in that regard. In implementation of the decision thus taken by the Chairman to terminate the leases, the Chairman has authorized the Land Manager to issue the ejectment notices. The issuance of such notices is a mere ministerial act for the implementation of a decision already taken by the Chairman as delegated by the Board. The Chairman having duly authorized the Land Manager in that regard, it cannot be said that the ejectment notice issued by the Land Manager is without jurisdiction. It is not a case of sub-delegation. It is merely a ministerial exercise of issuance of a notice in implementation of the decision, as per the specific authorization in that regard." 36. The reliance placed by the learned counsel on the decision of this Court in the case of Deep Suresh Gadhecha (supra) is thoroughly misconceived. We take notice of the fact that the judgment rendered by the Coordinate Bench in Deep Suresh Gadhecha (supra) was in a habeas corpus petition. This decision in our opinion is in no manner helpful to the writ-applicant in the present case. 37. In Bombay Municipal Corporation v. Dhondu Narayan Chowdhary,....
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.... or....." ....the Commissioner may notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, by notice..... order that that person as well as any other person who may be in occupation of the whole or any part of the premises. shall vacate them within one month of the date of the service of the notice." It will be noticed that S.68 was originally intended to cover very different matters because Chapter 6A could not have been in contemplation. When Chapter 6A was added and a reference to Ss.105B to 105E was included in S.68, the wording of that section became applicable to the power exercisable under Ss.105B to 105E even though that wording taken literally, is somewhat inapt to cover delegation of judicial power. 3. No question has been raised that any of the amendments is ultra vires so the words of S.68 must be reasonably construed. It goes without saying that judicial power cannot ordinarily be delegated unless the law expressly or by clear implication permits it. In the present case the amendment of S.68 by inclusion of delegation of the functions of the Commissioner under Ss.105B to 105E does indicate the intention that the judicial or....
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....statutory holder means that such provisions tend to be narrowly construed. For instance, in General Medical Council v. UK Dental Board (1936) Ch 41, although the Dentists Act, 1921, permitted the GMC to delegate functions to an executive committee, the court held that this power of delegation did not extend to disciplinary functions. This reflects the fact (also illustrated by the following case) that the courts' willingness to find statutory permission for delegation and the importance of the function in question appear to be inversely related...." "...Under the provisions of the scheme, so far from the board being in the position of an employer, the board are put in a judicial position between the men and the employers; they are to receive reports from the employers and investigate them; they have to inquire whether the man has been guilty of misconduct, such as failing to comply with a lawful order, or failing to comply with the provisions of the scheme; and if they find against him they can suspend him without pay, or can even dismiss him summarily...." "....In the first place, the decision-maker designated in the legislation is likely to have been chosen ....
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....her words, the administrative side of the delegate's duties were to be the subject of control and revision but not the essential power to decide, whether to take action or not in a particular case. Once the powers are delegated for the purpose of Section 69 of the Act, the subjective satisfaction, or rather, the reasonable belief should be that of the delegated authority. 43. Mr.Pandya invited our attention to a decision of this Court in the case of Valerius Industries (supra), more particularly, the observations made by this Court in para-35. We quote para-35 as under : "In the case on hand, Section 83 makes it abundantly clear that it is the Commissioner's opinion which is relevant. The Legislature has thought fit to confer this power upon the Commissioner. Whether such power conferred upon the Commissioner by the legislature could have been delegated to the three subordinate officers referred to above by virtue of the order dated 15th January 2018 passed in exercise of power under sub-section (3) of Section 5 read with clause 19 of Section 2 of the Act and the rules framed thereunder. In our opinion, the answer has to be in the negative. Although there is no ....
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....y the officers who are responsible to the person (who has the power by legislation). 48. This is also known as the principle of agency - where the agent is acting in the principal's name. 49. Whether a person other than that named in the empowering statute is allowed to act will depend upon the statute which lays down the provision for delegation. The nature of the subject matter, the degree of control retained by the person delegating, and the type of person or body to whom the power is delegated will be taken into account while delegating powers. 50. We have to our advantage a Full Bench decision of the Allahabad High Court on the subject. We are referring to a decision in the case of Democratic Bar Association, Allahabad v. High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, reported in AIR 2000 (All) 300. The following questions fell for the consideration of the Full Bench. "1. Whether the High Court can delegate its statutory function under Sec. 16(2) of the Act, to designate an advocate as senior advocate in favour of a committee consisting of Hon'ble Judges of the Court? 2. Whether Rule 3(B) of the Rules, or in the form it stands in the Rules, is in contrav....
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....f co-ordinate authority or to a subordinate authority. However, when administrative function is statutory in nature and the function or the power is assigned under the statute it should be performed or exercised by that authority unless the power to delegate such function or exercise of power is specifically provided or may be inferred by necessary implication from the provisions contained in the statute. Learned counsel for the respondents could not lay his hand on any provision contained in the Act on the basis of which it may be said that High Court has been conferred specific power to delegate this statutory function contemplated under Section 16(2) of the Act." (Emphasis supplied) 52. Thus, the dictum as laid in the aforesaid Full Bench decision of the Allahabad High Court is that, normally the administrative functions and powers can be delegated in favour of a coordinate authority or to a subordinate authority. When administrative function is statutory in nature and the function or the power is assigned under the statute, it should be performed or exercised by that authority unless the power to delegate such function or exercise of power is specifically provided o....
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.... provision of the Act. Sub-Sec. (ii) of S.5 of the Act defines the expression 'Commissioner' as follows: "'Commissioner' means the Municipal Commissioner for the city appointed under S.54 and includes an acting Commissioner appointed under Sub-Sec. (2) of S.57 and any Minicipal Officer empowered under this Act to exercise, perform or discharge any of the powers, duties or functions of the Commissioner to the extent to which such officer is so empowered." Section 69(4) of the Act empowering the Commissioner to delegate his functions to any officer of the Corporation, reads as follows : "Municipal Officers may be empowered to exercise the powers of Commissioner. (4) Any of the powers, duties or functions conferred or imposed upon or vested in the Commissioner by this Act may be exercised, performed or discharged under the Commissioner's control, and subject to his superintendence and to such conditions and limitations, if any, as he may thank fit to prescribe, by any Municipal Officer, whom the Commissioner may generally or specially empower in writing in this behalf." Now, power to determine objections to valuation is conferred on th....
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....ovisions both in the Section as well as in the order of delegation that 'Commissioner's control' and 'subject to his revision'. These words are really appropriate to delegation of administrative functions where the control may be deeper than in judicial matters, in respect of judicial or quasi judicial functions, these words cannot, of course, bear the meaning, which they in the delegation of administrative functions. When the Commissioner stated that his functions were delegated subject to his control and revision, it did not mean that he reserved to himself the right to intervene to impose his own decision upon his delegate. What those words meant was that the Commissioner could control the exercise administratively as to the kinds of cases, in which the delegate could take action or the period or time, during which the power might be exercised and so on and so forth. In other words, the administrative side of the delegate's duties was to be the subject of control and revision but not the essential power to decide whether to take action or not in a particular case. This is also the intention of S.68 as interpreted in the context of the several delegated po....