{"id":13659,"date":"2025-12-31T05:16:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T05:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/?p=13659"},"modified":"2025-12-31T05:24:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T05:24:24","slug":"delegatus-non-potest-delegare-the-constitutional-guardrail-of-accountability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/delegatus-non-potest-delegare-the-constitutional-guardrail-of-accountability\/","title":{"rendered":"Delegatus Non Potest Delegare: The Constitutional Guardrail of Accountability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/span>Introduction: When Power Changes Hands<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1986, food inspectors across Punjab began prosecuting vendors under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act\u2014a power originally vested in the State’s Food (Health) Authority. The Authority had delegated prosecution powers downward without explicit statutory permission. When challenged, the Supreme Court struck down these prosecutions as ultra vires, invalidating convictions and highlighting a fundamental constitutional principle: a delegate cannot further delegate.<\/p>

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