Administrative law

--- Recall of order --- Locus poenitentiae --- Scope --- Although locus poenitentiae is the power of receding till a decisive step is taken, but it is not a principle of law that an order once passed becomes irrevocable and is a past and closed transaction --- If an order is illegal, then a perpetual right cannot be created on the basis of such illegal order --- Indeed, the principle of locus poenitentiae does not extend to orders which are patently illegal or orders obtained as a result of fraud.

--- Educational institutions --- Judicial review of administrative academic decisions --- Scope --- Courts must exercise restraint and interfere in the affairs of educational institutions only in exceptional circumstances, namely where the governing laws or policies offend the principles of natural justice or transgress constitutional or statutory mandates.

--- An executive instruction cannot override, curtail, or dilute a statutory command --- The executive directions must yield to the statute, and any inconsistency must be resolved in favour of the legislative mandate.

--- Legitimate expectation --- Scope --- Where a public authority, through a consistent course of conduct or an express representation, creates a legitimate expectation in favour of beneficiaries, such expectation cannot be defeated arbitrarily or capriciously --- The doctrine of legitimate expectation, as consistently recognized by the Superior Courts of Pakistan, obliges public institutions to act fairly, consistently, and in a non-discriminatory manner, particularly where rights and benefits under a social welfare scheme are involved.

--- Promissory estoppel --- Scope --- The principle of promissory estoppel restrains a public authority from resiling from a position that has been consciously adopted and acted upon by affected persons, unless an overriding public interest so demands and such departure is sanctioned by law --- Indeed, an authority which has the power to make an order ordinarily also possesses the power to rescind or modify it --- However, this principle is subject to a well-recognized exception: where an order has taken legal effect and, in pursuance thereof, certain rights have accrued in favour of an individual, such an order cannot be withdrawn or rescinded to the detriment of those vested rights.