B.A. LL.B. (Hons.

) Syllabus
JUDICIAL REVIEW (CG HONORS)

Objective of the Course

Judicial review is the power of the courts of law to review the actions of the executive or the
legislative branches and annul those actions where it finds them incompatible with a higher
norm. It is the authority of courts to examine an executive or legislative act and invalidate that
act if it is contrary to constitutional principles. This concept has a long history and in due course
of time has become an essential feature of written Constitutions of many countries. It aims to
balance the entire system of governance, protect the basic rights of the people and establish a
rule of law in the society. Judicial review is firmly established in India and is a basic feature of
the Indian Constitution. Its growth is the inevitable response of the judiciary to ensure proper
exercise of powers by the State and prevent any violation of basic rights of the people.

Judicial review is however not a simple but highly complex and complicated system. It is
interpreted differently in different jurisdictions, which also recognize different hierarchy of legal
norms. As a result, the procedure and scope of judicial review differs from country to country
due to different ideologies and experience. Therefore students of law must have sufficient
understanding in the subject. It is for this reason that course contents have been developed so that
the students may be able to appreciate the concept, structure, procedure and operation of the
institution of judicial review.

Module I: Introduction
a. Meaning
b. Nature and Development of Judicial Review
c. Judicial Review in Contemporary World
d. Judicial Review in the Indian Constitution

Module II: Scope of Judicial Review

a. Judicial Review of the Constituent Power – Amendments - Basic Structure Doctrine
b. Judicial Review of Constituted Power – Separation of Powers – Legislature, Executive
and Judiciary- Judicial Review of Legislative Action, Judicial Review of Administrative
Action-(Delegated legislation, Quasi-Judicial Action, Administrative Action,
Administrative Discretion, Administrative Directions and Instructions) Judicial Review
over Judicial Decisions.
 c. Powers and Functions of President and Judicial Review, Parliamentary Privileges and
Judicial Review, Conflict between Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.

Module III: Mechanism of Judicial Review

a. Concept of Writs
b. Habeas Corpus
c. Mandamus
d. Certiorari
e. Prohibition
f. Quo Warranto

Module IV: Grounds of Judicial Review

a. Illegality
b. Irrationality
c. Procedural Impropriety
d. Proportionality

Module V: Limits of Judicial Review

a. Constitutional Limits
b. Implied Limits
c. Exclusion of Judicial Review
d. Concept of Judicial Self- Restraint

Module VI: Expanding Horizons of Judicial Review

a. Judicial Activism
b. Public Interest Litigation
c. Development of Human Rights Jurisprudence
d. Impact of Judicial Review
Suggested References:
1. Harry Woolf, Stanley A. De Smith, et.al, De Smith’s Judicial Review, Sweet & Maxwell,
2007.
2. Helen Fenwick, Judicial Review, Lexis Nexis, 2010
3. Clive Lewis, Judicial Remedies in Public Law, Sweet and Maxwell, 2009
4. Bhagawati Prasad Banerjee & Bhasker Prasad Banerjee, Judicial Control of
Administrative Action, Wadhwa & Co., Nagpur, 2001
5. D D Basu, Administrative Law, Kamal Law House, 6th Edition, 2005
6. Mamata Rao, Public Interest Litigation, EBC, 3rd Edition, 2010
7. S.P. Sathe, Judicial Activism, Oxford University Press, 2002
8. M P Jain & S N Jain, Principles of Administrative Law, Wadhwa Publications, 2008