The Role of the
Judiciary and Government Contracts
Contracts that are government-related are
those which the Government enters into for a variety of purposes, such as
construction, management, maintenance, repairs, and manpower supply. A government contract is
one that involves the Central Government, State Governments, or Government
bodies.
Although the Government is not obligated
to enter into contracts with any one, it must do so in a fair and without
prejudice.
The power to judicial review is used to
prevent unfair practices by the Government and the officers acting on their
behalf. It is therefore important in protecting the interests of the
contracting party.
Important factors in Government contracts are
the ambit of judicial reviews and the power to overturn any Government decision
on its merits. The judiciary's control is only concerned with the
decision-making process and not the merits. The court cannot overturn the
terms of a contract entered into by public authorities for the
Government. The court cannot exercise its judicial review power if the contract
has been entered into by the Government without any arbitrariness, and all
procedures in the contract have been followed without prejudice.
If the procedure taken by the authority
is not in accordance with Article 14 or is in the public interest, the court
can't ignore it and must exercise its judicial review power.
The judiciary does not care about the
fairness of a decision, but only how it is taken. These are the grounds
for judicial review of administrative actions:
- Rationality
- Procedural Impropriety
- Illegality
These are just a few of the possible
grounds for judicial review. The Supreme Court held that the Government
should have the right to enter into contracts, but that this should be subject
to reasonableness testing and free from arbitrariness.
The power of judicial review can be used
to check arbitrary contracts, but it cannot be used at all times as it would
infringe on the Executive's rights to enter into contracts. The power to
judicial review is available if the contract is not in accordance with the
proper procedure or is arbitrarily written.
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