course which is different to the postulation in the Insurance Act, by means of its
own Circulars. We need not go beyond mentioning the decision of this Court in
Avinder Singh v. State of Punjab (1979) 1 SCC 137 wherein it has been held
that the Legislature cannot efface itself by delegating its plenary powers unless
the delegate functions strictly under its supervision. If the delegate is allowed
to function independently it would tantamount to “usurpation of legislative
power itself.” This view came to be reiterated to decades later in Agricultural
Market Committee v. Shalimar Chemical Works Ltd. (1997) 5 SCC 516. This
Court held that “....... Power to make subsidiary legislation may be entrusted by
the legislature to another body of its choice but the legislature should, before
delegating, enunciate either expressly or by implication, the policy and the
principles for the guidance of the delegates”. The position that obtains today is
diametrically opposite inasmuch as the statute permitted, at the relevant time,
the assignment and/or transfer of life insurance policies, but the delegate,
through its Circulars, has attempted to nullify that provision of law. We
conclude, therefore, that the circulars are ultra vires the Statute and must
therefore be made ineffectual.
REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 8542 OF 2009
LIC OF INDIA
V
INSURE POLICY PLUS SERVICES PVT. LTD. & ORS …
Dated;December 29, 2015.
