Which of the following best describes the nature of power under Section 3(1) of the Essential…

Section 3(1) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 empowers the Central Government to make orders of general application regulating or prohibiting the production, supply, distribution and trade of essential commodities. Such orders are delegated legislation: in Harishankar Bagla v State of Madhya Pradesh (1954) the Supreme Court upheld s.3 as a valid delegation of legislative power, and in Prag Ice & Oil Mills v Union of India (1978) it held that price fixation under s.3 is legislative in character. The power is therefore delegated legislative power, not judicial or quasi-judicial, and not a police power of investigation.