If a policy is not law, why does anyone care about it?

Because it decides what law gets made next, and courts read it to understand what a statute was driving at. The National Education Policy 2020 binds nobody, but it shapes the legislation that follows it. The exam point is narrower: you cannot be prosecuted under a policy and you cannot sue on one.

What is the difference between Rules and Regulations? They look the same.

They differ by who makes them. Rules are made by the Government under a section of a parent Act — the IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2021 exist because section 87 of the IT Act 2000 says the Central Government may make them. Regulations are made by a statutory body for its own field, such as SEBI making the LODR Regulations 2015 under the SEBI Act. Both are delegated legislation and both are void if they exceed the Act they come from.

Do I have to say which jurist is right?

No, and trying to is the common way to lose marks. The examiner wants you to show that each definition captures something real and misses something else. The strongest answers close by saying that law is better described by its functions than pinned down in a single sentence.

Is a housing society bye-law law?

It binds members, but the society cannot enforce it by itself — it has to go to a court or registrar to get anywhere. Compare that with the State, which needs nobody's permission. This is exactly the distinction the topic is built on, and a good illustration to use in an answer.

Why does this topic matter beyond the first paper?

Because every later paper assumes it. Article 13 of the Constitution asks whether something is “law”. Administrative Law asks whether a regulator went beyond its Act. Both are this question, asked again in a harder setting.

Meaning of Law, Rules, Regulation and Policy

Your building has a rule that nobody uses the lift after 11pm. Your state has a law that nobody drives after drinking. Break the first and the secretary puts up a notice. Break the second and you are arrested. Both are “rules” in ordinary speech. Only one of them is law — and the whole of your degree rests on knowing why.

In two minutes

Law is a rule of human conduct that the State lays down or recognises and will itself enforce. Everything else in this topic — Austin, Salmond, Holland, Pound, and the difference between an Act, Rules, Regulations and a Policy — is a refinement of, or a quarrel with, that one sentence.

The marker is enforceability, not importance. A housing society's rule and a drink-driving law both tell you what to do. Only one has the State behind it, able to act without anyone's permission. That backing is the sanction .
Four instruments, one hierarchy. An Act is made by the legislature under the Constitution. Rules are made by government under a power the Act gives it. Regulations are made by a statutory regulator under its own Act. A Policy is made by the executive under no legislative authority at all — and is therefore not law.
Four jurists, four emphases. Austin — command of the sovereign backed by a sanction. Salmond — principles recognised and applied by courts. Holland — a general rule of external human action. Pound — law as social engineering, balancing competing interests.
Each definition is criticised for what it leaves out. Austin explains criminal law and little else; he cannot account for custom or international law. Salmond is circular. The mark is for showing what each captures and what each misses, not for picking a winner.
The real test of the topic: shown any document — a statute, a circular, a policy paper, a set of bye-laws — can you say what it is, who made it, and whether a court will enforce it?

So what makes something law?

Start with the difference you just felt. The society's rule and the state's law both tell you what to do. What separates them is not how important they are, or how many people they bind, or even whether they are written down. It is who stands behind them , and what happens when you ignore them .

Behind the lift rule stands a managing committee. The worst it can do is fine you under its bye-laws, and if you refuse, it has to go to a court to get anywhere. Behind the drink-driving law stands the State itself — and the State does not need anyone's permission to act on it. It can stop your car, take your licence, and put you in front of a magistrate. That backing is called a sanction , and it is the oldest marker of law there is.

So a first working definition: law is a rule of human conduct, laid down or recognised by the State, which the State will enforce. Hold on to that, because everything in this topic is a refinement of it — and, as you will see, a quarrel with it.

Four words students mix up in the exam

This is where marks are won and lost, so slow down here. In Indian law, Act , Rules , Regulations and Policy are not loose synonyms. They sit in a hierarchy, and each is made by a different body with a different kind of authority.

Instrument	Who makes it	Where its power comes from	Enforceable?
Act / Statute Information Technology Act, 2000	Parliament or a State Legislature	The Constitution itself	Yes — law in the primary sense
Rules IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules, 2021	The Government, under a power given in the Act	Delegated by the parent Act	Yes — but void if they exceed the Act
Regulations SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015	A statutory body or regulator	Delegated by its own governing Act	Yes — within the regulator's field
Policy National Education Policy, 2020	The executive	No legislative backing at all	No — a statement of intent, not law

Read the table once more and notice the pattern: as you go down, the maker gets more specialised and the authority gets more delegated. Parliament writes the Act because Parliament is elected. It cannot foresee every technical detail, so it writes into the Act a section saying “the Central Government may make rules for…” — and those Rules carry the force of law because the Act said so . This is delegated legislation , and you will meet it again in Administrative Law.

Policy is the odd one out, and that is exactly why examiners like it. A policy is a statement of intent . The National Education Policy 2020 binds nobody; you cannot be prosecuted under it and you cannot sue on it. It matters — it shapes what laws get made next, and courts sometimes read it to understand what a statute was driving at — but it is not law. If a question asks you to distinguish law from policy, enforceability is the word that earns the mark.

How jurists have defined law — and why they disagree

Now the part that looks intimidating and is not. Four names come up again and again. Learn what each one emphasised , and the criticism of each, and you can answer almost any definition question.

John Austin said law is the command of the sovereign, backed by a sanction . Clean, forceful, and it matches the drink-driving example perfectly. The trouble is that it explains criminal law well and almost nothing else. Nobody commands you to make a will, and the law of contract does not threaten you — it offers you a machinery. Austin also cannot account for custom, which binds long before any sovereign commands it, or for international law, where there is no sovereign at all.

Salmond shifted the focus from the commander to the court: law is the body of principles recognised and applied by the State in the administration of justice . A better fit for a system like ours, where much of the law is judge-made. Its weakness is circularity — it tells you law is what courts apply, which rather assumes you already know what courts are for.

Holland defined law as a general rule of external human action enforced by a sovereign political authority . Note the word external : law regulates what you do, not what you think. Your motives matter to law only when they show up in conduct.

Roscoe Pound moved away from definitions altogether and asked what law is for . His answer — social engineering — treats law as a tool for balancing competing interests in society with the least friction and waste. Reach for this whenever a question mentions social change, welfare legislation or the Directive Principles.

You are not expected to pick a winner. The mark is for showing that each definition captures something real and misses something else — and the strongest answers close by saying that law is better described by its functions than pinned down by a single sentence.

Why this topic is the foundation of everything after it

It is tempting to treat this as a warm-up chapter. It is not. Every later paper assumes it. When Constitutional Law asks whether a rule made by a university is “law” for the purpose of Article 13, it is asking this question. When Administrative Law asks whether a regulator exceeded its powers, it is asking whether the Regulation went beyond the Act. When you brief a case in Topic 1.4, you will be separating the binding rule from everything around it.

So the test of whether you have this topic is not whether you can recite Austin. It is whether, shown any document — a statute, a circular, a policy paper, a set of bye-laws — you can say what it is, who made it, and whether a court will enforce it.

Cheat sheet

Law: A rule of human conduct laid down or recognised by the State, which the State will enforce.
Sanction: The consequence the State attaches to breach. Austin's marker of law, and the oldest one there is.
Act / Statute: Made by Parliament or a State Legislature. Its authority comes from the Constitution. Law in the primary sense.
Rules: Made by government under a power expressly given in a parent Act. Binding — but void if they go beyond the Act.
Regulations: Made by a statutory regulator under its own governing Act. Binding within that regulator's field.
Policy: A statement of intent by the executive. No legislative backing, not enforceable, cannot be sued on. Not law.
Delegated legislation: Rules and Regulations together: law made by a body other than the legislature, on authority the legislature handed over.
Austin: Law is the command of the sovereign, backed by a sanction. Fits criminal law; fails on custom, contract and international law.
Salmond: Law is the body of principles recognised and applied by the State in the administration of justice. Fits a judge-made system; criticised as circular.
Holland: A general rule of external human action enforced by a sovereign political authority. Note external : law governs conduct, not thought.
Roscoe Pound: Social engineering — law as a tool for balancing competing social interests with the least friction and waste.

Questions students ask

If a policy is not law, why does anyone care about it?: Because it decides what law gets made next, and courts read it to understand what a statute was driving at. The National Education Policy 2020 binds nobody, but it shapes the legislation that follows it. The exam point is narrower: you cannot be prosecuted under a policy and you cannot sue on one.
What is the difference between Rules and Regulations? They look the same.: They differ by who makes them. Rules are made by the Government under a section of a parent Act — the IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2021 exist because section 87 of the IT Act 2000 says the Central Government may make them. Regulations are made by a statutory body for its own field, such as SEBI making the LODR Regulations 2015 under the SEBI Act. Both are delegated legislation and both are void if they exceed the Act they come from.
Do I have to say which jurist is right?: No, and trying to is the common way to lose marks. The examiner wants you to show that each definition captures something real and misses something else. The strongest answers close by saying that law is better described by its functions than pinned down in a single sentence.
Is a housing society bye-law law?: It binds members, but the society cannot enforce it by itself — it has to go to a court or registrar to get anywhere. Compare that with the State, which needs nobody's permission. This is exactly the distinction the topic is built on, and a good illustration to use in an answer.
Why does this topic matter beyond the first paper?: Because every later paper assumes it. Article 13 of the Constitution asks whether something is “law”. Administrative Law asks whether a regulator went beyond its Act. Both are this question, asked again in a harder setting.