DOCTRINE OF COLOURABLE LEGISLATION

DOCTRINE OF COLOURABLE LEGISLATION

Subject : Polity

Context: The Places of worship Act of 1991, is appropriately called an Act of colourable legislation. As the Courts have held, “you cannot do indirectly which you are prohibited from doing directly”.

Concept :

Doctrine of Colourable Legislation

• Legislation is considered as colourable when a legislature having no power or legislative competence enacts legislation that is so camouflaging that it appears to fall within its legislative competence.
• The objective lies in the fact that what the legislature can’t legislate directly; it cannot go beyond its competency to legislate it indirectly. This principle is known as the doctrine of colourable legislation.