in the absence of any power, a delegate cannot sub-delegate its power to another person

in Delhi Development Authority vs Central Information Commission datede on 21 May, 2010

   THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI in  WP (C) 12714/2009

Honorable Justice  Badar Durrez Ahmed , held that

 There can be no delegation of this power to any other committee or person. ―Delegatus non potest delegare" is a well-known maxim which means - in the absence of any power, a delegate cannot sub-delegate its power to another person (See: Pramod K. Pankaj v. State of Bihar & Others: 2004 (3) SCC 723).

20. As we have seen, there is nothing in the Act which empowers the Central Information Commission to appoint a committee to conduct an inquiry on its behalf, the only rules that have been framed under Section 27 of the RTI Act, are the following:-

i) The Right to Information (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2005; and

ii) The Central Information Commission (Appeal Procedure) Rules, 2005.

None of these rules deal with the powers of inquiry of the Central Information Commission. Therefore, there is nothing prescribed either in the Act or the Rules made thereunder, whereby the Central Information Commission could be said to have been empowered to delegate its power of inquiry under Section 18 to some other person or a committee of persons.