Doctrine of Proportionality

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....iples have been evolved by courts. If an action taken by any authority is contrary to law, improper, irrational or otherwise unreasonable, a court of law can interfere with such action by exercising power of judicial review. One of such modes of exercising power, known to law is the "doctrine of proportionality". 18. "Proportionality" is a principle where the court is concerned with the process, method or manner in which the decision-maker has ordered his priorities, reached a conclusion or arrived at a decision. The very essence of decision-making consists in the attribution of relative importance to the factors and considerations in the case. The doctrine of proportionality thus steps in focus true nature of exercise--the elaborati....

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.... and its departments, in administering the affairs of the country, are expected to honour their statements of policy or intention and treat the citizens with full personal consideration without abuse of discretion. There can be no "pick and choose", selective applicability of the government norms or unfairness, arbitrariness or unreasonableness. It is not permissible to use a "sledgehammer to crack a nut". As has been said many a time; "where paring knife suffices, battle axe is precluded". 22. In the celebrated decision of Council of Civil Service Union v. Minister for Civil Service(1985 AC 374 : (1984) 3 WLR 1174 : (1984) 3 All ER 935 (HL) Lord Diplock proclaimed: (All ER p. 950h-j) "Judicial review has I think developed to a stage toda....

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....ink that any other reasonable employer would have imposed the extreme punishment of dismissal on its entire permanent staff in this manner." (AIR p. 919, para 7) (emphasis supplied) The Court concluded that the punishment imposed on the workmen was "not only severe and out of proportion to the fault, but one which, in our judgment, no reasonable employer would have imposed". (AIR pp. 919-20, para 7) (emphasis supplied) 26. In Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry v. Workmen [(1972) 1 SCC 40], the allegation against the employee of the Federation was that he issued legal notices to the Federation and to the International Chamber of Commerce which brought discredit to the Federation--the employer. Domestic inquiry was hel....