As stated in E.P. Royappa vs State of Tamil Nadu, ; " . . equality and arbitrariness are sworn enemies; one belongs to the rule of law in a republic while the other, to 544 the whim and caprice of an absolute monarch . " See also Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India, AIR 1978 SC 597 Ajay Hasia vs Khalid Mujib, AIR (1981) SC 485 and D.S. Nakara vs Union of India, ; An act is ultra vires either because the authority has acted in excess of its power in the narrow sense, or because it has abused its power by acting in bad faith or for an inadmissible purpose or on irrelevant grounds or without regard to relevant considerations or with gross unreasona bleness: see the principle stated by Lord Greene M.R. in Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd. vs Wednesbury Corporation, ,885.