RAS question
The 'Doctrine of Colourable Legislation' means:
Correct answer: (D) A legislature cannot do indirectly what it cannot do directly — if it lacks competence on a subject, it cannot legislate on it under the guise of another subject.
The doctrine of colourable legislation means that a legislature cannot do indirectly what it is constitutionally prohibited from doing directly.
Explanation
The doctrine tests legislative competence by looking at the substance and effect of a law, not merely its outward form. If a legislature lacks power over a subject, it cannot place the law under another label and achieve the same result indirectly. The Orissa High Court judgment cited this as the familiar principle that a legislature cannot do indirectly what it is prohibited from doing directly. It also explains that, where a law-making authority is limited by a written Constitution, courts may look beyond names, forms and appearances to see whether the law is colourable or disguised. Therefore, the doctrine is a check on transgression of constitutional limits, not a test of whether the law is popular or well-intentioned.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The doctrine has nothing to do with the physical printing or colour of laws; it concerns whether a legislature has stayed within its constitutional competence.
- (B) It is not a power of the President to classify legislation by colour; the doctrine is a judicial test for detecting disguised transgression of constitutional limits.
- (C) Public support does not make a law valid under this doctrine; the issue is whether the legislature had competence over the subject in substance and effect.
Concept
This tests the constitutional law concept of legislative competence under a written Constitution. It recurs in RAS because questions often ask how courts police the limits of legislative power beyond the formal wording of a statute.