<p>The doctrine of sovereign immunity circumvents the Rule of Law through legal mechanism. The administration, in its working and in implementing its policies, often comes in direct conflict with the individual interests. The individual interests need protection and yet the public interest requires the Government to carry on its activities unhampered for smooth and proper development of the socio-economic structure of the society, maintenance of tranquility and implementation of other social welfare projects. The Rule of Law, in its idealistic sense, however, demands not only the absence of arbitrariness in the rulers but also the protection of individual interests. The doctrine of &lsquo;sovereign immunity&rsquo; which still haunts our legal system can well be considered as a great denial of the Rule of Law. But securing justice to the individuals is also a public interest and as such, it must outweigh the &lsquo;sovereign immunity&rsquo;. While the State exists for the individuals, this work is a welcome attempt to study the law in this perspective.</p>

<p><strong>A Comparative Study</strong><br />
A comparative study of the law as it prevails in various countries of the common law world, the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, besides the law in France, with special reference to India with analytical approach of profound depth renders the present work extremely useful as classic reference on the subject.</p>

<p><strong>Compensatory Justice</strong><br />
The &lsquo;sovereign immunity&rsquo; though undoubtedly a formidable shield against the judicial remedy for the governmental wrongs, yet the compensatory justice, as reflected in recent judicial pronouncements, sets a trend towards erosion of &lsquo;sovereign immunity&rsquo; and this should be considered as a highly interesting development in the Indian legal system. The rapidly expanding ambit of Articles 21, 32, 226 and 300A of the Constitution of India through judicial activism to ensure justice to the victims of administrative wrongs has been studied in depth by the author, who is an erudite scholar.</p>

<p><strong>Various Aspects of Vicarious Liability of Government</strong><br />
Besides tracing the development of vicarious liability of Government in tort, other vistas of liability, e.g. in crime, contract and the liability as an employer, have also been explored and studied in the context of justice and fairness as a modern extension of the concept of Rule of Law. A liberal use of the provisions for compensation to victims, as suggested by the Supreme Court, would be another step forward.</p>

<p><strong>Procedural Aspects</strong><br />
Not only theoretical aspects of administrative liability and its exceptions but also the procedural aspects relating to technical difficulties and the remedies and enforcement thereof have been tested on the touchstone of the Rule of Law.</p>

<p><strong>Legislative Dormancy and Judicial Activism</strong><br />
Introduction of a Bill in Parliament to define the law of governmental liability would have been in the right direction for securing justice and fairness. By and large, as the society advances in a democratic set-up, &lsquo;sovereign immunity&rsquo; becomes an anachronism and needs to be done away with. The question whether the legislative indifference would be of any vital concern in view of the liberal judicial trend has been fully discussed highlighting the trend.</p>
