Govt always the source of power, can never renounce it: HC

Govt always the source of power, can never renounce it: HC

SRINAGAR: The J&K High Court on Friday while dismissing a bunch of pleas held that “Government has the actual source of power which always remains and is never renounced even if it delegates its power to some other source.”
The court while hearing the pleas challenging the single bench judgement dated 9 August, 2019 wherein the selection and appointment of sub-inspectors in JK Police was upheld as fair and transparent process said, “Merely by delegation of power, the delegator is not divested of exercising his power.”
Court referred that the Delegation is defined in Black’s Law Dictionary as an act of entrusting another with authority or empowering another to act as an agent or representative.
“Delegation generally means parting of powers by the persons who grant the delegation but it also means conferring an authority to do things which otherwise that person would have to do himself,” court said.
The court recorded that it is clear that even after the delegation of power, the ultimate power always remains with the delegator and is never renounced.
Court said in the instant case, the Selection Committee, as contended by counsel for the writ petitioners, has been constituted by the Government in terms of Government Order No.289-Home
of 2016 dated 28, May 2016 bearing reference to the letter of Director General of Police.
“The Government being the source of power, which it has delegated to Director General of Police under Rule 172, was well within its power and jurisdiction to constitute a Selection Committee and, as such, no fault can be found with the procedure adopted by the Government in this regard,” Division Bench noted.
For the foregoing discussion, we are of the considered opinion that there has been no gross or glaring illegality or irregularity in the process of selection of Sub Inspectors which is subject matter of these appeals.
“Having said so, it was not open to the writ petitioners to challenge the selection process after having participated in the same simply because they had failed to make the grade. The Writ Court has rightly observed that estoppel by conduct would apply with full force to the case of the writ petitioners and they are barred from challenging the selection process in the facts and circumstances of the case,” court said.

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