Chaitanya AwasthiAIR 37 · CSE 2022 · 236 wordsTheir whole copy
Opening · a constitutional or legal provision
A. 123 and A. 213 of the Indian Constitution empower the President and Governors to promulgate ordinances respectively. Such power is to be exercised on the aid and advise of Council of Ministers.
Ordinance is a temporary legislation to meet an exigency when both or one of the House is not in session. It is not a parallel power of legislation and has to be passed withing 6 weeks of reassembly by the Parliament/State Legislature.
Given its controversial nature, a number of safeguards have been provided:
Body · points and prose
(1) Rules of Lok Sabha mandate laying of a memo explaining the circumstances that warranted the ordinance.
Some extra point → An ordinance is subject to the same constitutional limitation as an Act of Parliament
(2) In RC Cooper Case, Supreme Court allowed Judicial review on limited grounds. (3) In Krishnakumar case, Judicial Review was extended to consider:
Close · a way forward
(A) Sufficient Cause (B) Oblique Motive
However, despite these checks, the executive practices such as "Repromulgation of Ordinances" raise serious concerns about accountability and Separation of Power. In DC Wadhwa Case, Supreme Court too criticized the above practice and called for restraint, reforms and respect of functions by each organ of government.
Reform needed to restrict the maximum limit of ordinance; all stakeholders act responsibly.
| Judicial safeguards | Constitutional safeguards |
|---|---|
| (1) | (1) |
| (2) | (2) |
| (3) | (3) |
1 more topper’s answer to this question, part by part, and how they all approached it: open the question.