II. AN IN-DEPTH UNDERSTANDING OF THE HENRY VIII CLAUSE
2.1. Attributes of the Henry VIII clause
A Henry VIII clause refers to the provision in a primary Act which empowers the Executive to make secondary legislation which are inconsistent or can amend, repeal with the primary legislation/legislations.
History bears testimony to the fact that originally the Henry VIII clause was contained in the Statute of Sewers. At the time, the clause vested in the Commissioner of Sewers (the Executive), the powers to enact rules having the effect of legislation, to levy taxes and to impose penalties for contravention. Later, the Statute of Proclamations provided for the King (the Executive) to issue proclamations having the force of a statute. Both the statutes were in prevalence during…show more content… The King asserted his powers in a purely authoritarian manner & ‘modified’ the provisions as per his subjective understanding. Resultantly, even at present, whenever such wide powers are conferred upon the Executive, these are termed as the Henry VIII powers.
The Henry VIII clause is different from the situation where the Executive is conferred by the Legislative with the authority to extend the statute already in operation in one area to another area along with the power of modification which allows for making necessary adjustments to the existing law to better suit the requirements of the new territory. This is because in such cases, modifications are made to the fresh operation of the parent Act in the new area instead of altering the original statute. However, under the Henry VIII clause, the Executive is armed to modify the original statue. Further, the Henry VIII clause is also different from the clause present