Article 14 of the Constitution operates as a check on the conferment of administrative discretion. As explained by the ICSI material, an administrative authority's wide discretion may be struck down under Article 14 if:

1. Article 14 of the Constitution strikes at **arbitrariness** in State action and prevents arbitrary discretion being vested in the executive. 2. The ICSI text records the test: 'The Court in determining the question of validity of such statute examines **whether the statute has laid down any principle or policy for the guidance of the exercise of discretion by the government in the matter of selection or classification**. The Court will not tolerate the delegation of uncontrolled power in the hands of executive to such an extent as to enable it to discriminate.' 3. In *State of West Bengal v. Anwar Ali, AIR 1952 SC 75*, the Special Courts Act was held to violate Article 14 because the necessity of 'speedier trial' was too vague to form the basis of a valid classification. 4. So the rule is principle / policy / standards — not the *quantum* of discretion (option A) or formal procedural requirements (options C and D). _Source: ICSI CS Executive — Lesson 5, 'Administrative Discretion and Article 14', p. 120._