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CS Executive · Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws · Administrative Laws

An officer is empowered to cancel a dealer's registration if he is 'satisfied' that the dealer has committed a violation. He cancels it relying entirely on a superior's telephone direction, without forming his own view. Which ground of control applies most directly?

The ground is acting under dictation. The statute entrusts satisfaction to the officer himself, so he must form an independent view. Cancelling registration merely on a superior's telephone instruction means he surrendered his discretion, and the order can be quashed by a court.

  1. AActing under dictation, because the officer did not exercise independent judgmentCorrect
  2. BProportionality, because the penalty was excessive
  3. CLegitimate expectation, because the dealer expected renewal
  4. DRes judicata, because the matter was decided earlier

Explanation

Where the statute vests the satisfaction in a particular officer, that officer must form it personally. Acting at the behest of another authority is a surrender of discretion and makes the order invalid. Proportionality is wrong since the defect lies in who decided, not in the severity of the penalty.

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