Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd. V. Wednesbury Corporation

limited to bye-laws only. For instance in Taylor v. Brighton Borough Council a departmental regulation (town planning scheme) required that any fun fair organized within a particular area would require prior permission of the concerned local authority. This provision was challenged as unreasonable. Justice Greene held that it was not justified to adjudge a departmental regulation on the same principle as that of a bye-law. The court could only check if the regulation was within the scope of the primary legislation.

(v) The Wednesbury’s Principles Of Unreasonableness:
Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd. v. Wednesbury Corporation is a landmark case which laid down the three tests of unreasonableness, widely followed in England and India. The Cinematograph Act 1909 allowed the theatres to screen movies on Sundays, subject to any conditions imposed by the local authorities. Accordingly the Wednesbury Corporation set a condition that children below 15 years of age would not be allowed in theatres on Sundays. The Plaintiff challenged the condition on grounds of unreasonableness. The Court, while dismissing the challenge, laid down that authorities would act unreasonably if:
• They take “into account matters
In Porter v. Magill the local council had power to sell its property to promote any public purpose as described under the Housing Act 1985. Most members of Council belonged to the Conservative Party, and as the local body elections were approaching they deliberately devised a housing scheme which ‘designated for sale 74% of the eligible dwellings’ in the wards which were likely to be pro-conservative. The court held it to be a scheme made with improper purpose and termed it as dishonest use of public