Delegated legislationUltra viresSupreme Court of India

Hukam Chand v Union of India

AIR 1972 Supreme Court 242719721 min read
The case in brief30-second read
Facts
Parent Act conferred certain substantive rights on affected parties. Rules framed under the Act purported to impose conditions that effectively curtailed those rights.
Issue
Whether rules framed under a statute can alter substantive rights conferred by the parent Act.
Held
Delegated legislation must remain within the bounds of the enabling Act.
Principle
Delegated legislation (rules made under a statute) cannot go beyond the scope of the enabling Act. A power to make procedural rules does not include the power to alter substantive rights created by the parent Act. Subordinate legislation ultra vires the parent statute is void.
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Facts

  • Parent Act conferred certain substantive rights on affected parties
  • Rules framed under the Act purported to impose conditions that effectively curtailed those rights
  • Hukam Chand challenged the rules as ultra vires the parent Act
  • Government argued the rule-making power was broad enough

Issue

  1. Whether rules framed under a statute can alter substantive rights conferred by the parent Act.

Held

  • Delegated legislation must remain within the bounds of the enabling Act
  • Rule-making power for "procedure" does not extend to curtailing substantive rights
  • A delegate cannot do indirectly what the Legislature has not authorised directly
  • Rules struck down as ultra vires

Ratio decidendi

A power to make procedural rules does not include the power to alter substantive rights created by the parent Act. Subordinate legislation that travels beyond the scope of the enabling provision, or that seeks to modify substantive rights without explicit legislative authorisation, is ultra vires and void.

Exam use

How to use it in an answer

  • Indian authority on limits of delegated legislation
  • Distinction between procedural and substantive in rule-making
  • Key line: "In Hukam Chand v. Union of India (1972), the Supreme Court held that a power to make procedural rules does not authorise the delegate to alter substantive rights conferred by the parent Act."

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Citation

Hukam Chand v. Union of India AIR 1972 Supreme Court 2427

Reported: AIR 1972 SC 2427. This is an educational summary, not the judgment itself. Cite the reported version in professional or academic work.