Pub. Ad. Optional Paper I Section B by Rajeev Rajan Choudhary

Model Answer

Question #1. As regards the Administrative Tribunal the word "Administrative" gives wrong notion that the Tribunal is an appendage of a Government Department. Examine.

Answer: Administrative or statutory Tribunal is a body Constituted by or under state to perform adjudicatory function. Actually there is no precise definition of the word "Tribunal". It has been referred to in Article 136 and 227 of Indian Constitutionbut has not been defined in the Constitution of India.

In Administrative Law , it has been used to refer to the adjudicatory bodies outside the sphere of the ordinary counts. They are not appendages of the Govt. Depts. They are independent and in no way subject to administrative interference. The decisions of most of the Tribunals are in truth judicial rather than administrative in the sense that Tribunals have to find facts and then apply legal rules to them impartially without regard to the executive policy. These Tribunals have the character of courts, even though they are enmeshed in the administrative machinery of the state. However an administrative tribunal possesses only some of the trappings of a court but not all, as held by the Supreme court in Bharat Bank v/s Employees (1950).

So, as regards the Administrative Tribunal, the word "Administrative" gives the wrong notion that the Tribunal is an appendage of a Govt. Depts.

A scholar ‘Wade’ has said that the designation "Administrative Tribunal is misleading". David Foulks also has suggested that the word "Administrative" should be disregarded.

The main characteristics of an Administrative Tribunal:

(1). It has statutory origin.

(2). It is vested with the judicial power of the State and thereby it performs quasi-Judicial functions as distinguished from pure administrative functions.

(3). It is not bound by the strict rules of procedure and evidence prescribed by the civil procedure code and Evidence Act. Rather it follows rules of procedure prescribed by the statute under which it has been created like that of Tax Appellate Tribunal, The Copyright Board etc. The Tribunal is bound to observe the rules of natural justice.

(4). The Tribunal is given power to give determinative judgement or award affecting rights and obligations of the parties.

Thereby, The Tribunal is not an appendage of the Govt. Dept.

Question #2. Do you agree that e-governance can become an effective instrument of inclusive development. Comment.

Answer: Democracy as a concept and idea needs to explain its true essence and characteristics through making institutions and governance people-friendly and result oriented to ensure and attain inclusive development. Elaborate governance forms a part of the current reform agenda used by the governments across the world to deliver services, provide information to citizens and ensure public participation to ensure justice, equality and rights of people.

E-Governance as a tool for good governance aids in making democracy meaningful through interactive communication and exchange of information among various stake-holders, which creates the foundation of an inclusive governance system through online administration. Democracy through e-governance provides a system where people can receive better delivery of services. E-governance models provide interactions between government to citizen, citizens to government, government to government, government to business and government to NGOs.

So, specifically, by enhancing the interaction among three main actors in society – government, citizen and business – e-governance stimulates political, economic and social progress in the country, contributing to the inclusive development of society. The Information Technology Act, 2000, National E-Governance Plan – 2003, Right to Information Act, 2005, National E-Governance Plan 2006 are the interactive take on e-governance. Some flagship projects like – APSWAN (Andhra), Bhoomi and Kaveri (Karnataka), Rajasthan Sampark and Single sign on (Rajasthan), Lokvani Kiosk (UP) etc. are bringing people close across the country.

Governments across the country today are using ICT to facilitate governance and provide services to citizens in different shares of engagement and governments are working to make its departments IT enabled. ‘Digital India Mission’ is one such innovation. But India has many challenges in areas like — infrastructure, connectivity, financial inclusion, transport, energy, rural development etc. And, all such problems cannot be solved using traditional methods. So, technology becomes an indispensable tool to counter the myriad socio-cultural and psychological barriers before good governance.

The need of the hour is to address the substantive issues and examine the problems which have caused hiccups for e-governance projects. The induction of technology alone will not improve governance; rather there is a need to adopt a balanced approach for the implementation of e-governance initiatives. Amidst the economic, social and environmental challenges, e-governance seeks to play a meaningful role in enabling the delivery of quality public services that tries to meet citizen needs and aspirations. Digitization is changing the way governments are addressing the problems of people in particular and issues of development in general thereby addressing the inclusive development of society.