• The Constitution does not mandate a separation of powers between the judiciary and the executive but Article 50 directs the State to achieve it in due time.
• It took 20 years since the constitution came into effect, for several State legislatures to bring into effect the separation of power at the level of the criminal magistracy through laws such as The West Bengal Separation of Judicial and Executive Functions Act, 1970.
• The acts separated the roles of the judicial and executive magistrates in the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898.
• The saga of protecting judicial independence from the bureaucracy did not end with the separation of the criminal magistracy from the executive as the bureaucracy has tried different routes to capture judicial power.

Issues with the Jan Vishwas Act, 2022:

• The Jan Vishwas Act, 2022 aims to improve “ease of doing business” in India by either decriminalizing or making “compoundable” offences across 42 legislations.
• The legislation has mostly replaced criminal imprisonment with penalties.
• It has transferred the power to impose these monetary penalties from the judiciary to the bureaucracy.
• The Jan Vishwas Act amends the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 to replace imprisonment for certain offences with penalties of up to ₹15 lakh.
• This can be imposed by designated bureaucrats such as Joint Secretaries.
• Under amendments to the Indian Forest Act, 1927 forest officers can conduct an inquiry to determine the “damage done to the forest” by anybody and order the offender to pay a “compensation” for the damage.
• The act basically gives the bureaucracy, rather than the courts, the power to not just adjudicate a factual dispute but also penalize or order compensation which goes against the constitutional scheme of separation of powers.

Bureaucracy’s attempt to exercise judicial powers:

Creation of judicial tribunals:

• Different Ministries began creating judicial tribunals to take over various judicial functions hitherto exercised by the judiciary.
• Most of these tribunals were created in a manner to give bureaucrats an opportunity to be appointed to the tribunals as “technical members”.

Creation of a new class of statutory regulators:

• The Union government began creating a new class of statutory regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) which had powers to punish the private sector with punishing fines.
• Virtually all these regulators ended up being headed by senior bureaucrats.

Creation of the role of adjudicatory officers:

• The Union government has started creating the role of adjudicatory officers in a number of legislations such as the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the Information Technology Act, 2001 and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
• These adjudicatory officers were always bureaucrats who were given powers to either confirm “attachment orders” for properties or impose penalties on businesses.
• The Jan Vishwas Act carries forward this specific model of creating “adjudicatory officers” within the bureaucracy to impose penalties.

Definition of “judicial function”:

• The constitutionality of tribunals such as the National Tax Tribunal and regulators such as the CCI has been challenged before the courts over concerns of the executive encroaching upon the judicial powers.
• The question essentially comes down to the definition of “judicial function” as the Supreme Court has clearly stated that a “judicial function” can be discharged only by an independent judicial authority and they are not under the control of the executive.
• There is does no significant judicial precedent on whether the imposition of a penalty is a “judicial function”.
• Any inquiry conducted for fact finding when followed by the application of law to the facts and determination of punishment or compensation is in essence a judicial function.
• The burden then should be on the government to prove its case before an independent judge who can guarantee the citizens a fair trial before imposition of any punishment.
• The government cannot be a prosecutor and judge in its own cause which is the essence of ‘rule of law’.

Legislations like Jan Vishwas Act allows bureaucrats in charge of enforcing the law to also conduct an inquiry and impose the statutory penalty on a finding of wrongdoing is constitutionally suspect.

The larger issue which the citizens of India must worry about is that the Republic of India is backsliding on the separation of powers because of constant efforts by the bureaucracy of the Union executive to encroach upon judicial powers.