Ordinance making power and its impact on parliamentary form of government a critical analysis

Abstract

The law making function is generally performed by the legislature but when our Parliament is not in session and the circumstances requires an immediate action then the Executive viz. the President and the Governor is vested with legislative power to promulgate Ordinances under Articles 123and 213 respectively under our Constitution. This provision is meant to complement the role of Parliament when it is not in a position to enact a law. The Executive (both at the Centre and the State) has abused this power with alarming uniformity for political gains and to circumvent the Parliamentary process. A deeper examination of the manner of Ordinance making power exercised by the Executive demonstrates a casual disregard for the norms of democratic principles. The mechanism of Ordinances has in course of 70 years has become another preferred legislative arrangement. This research presents an overview of Parliamentary legislations vis-à-vis Presidential legislations offering a frame to assess the Executives legislative power in Parliamentary system of governance and to create harmonious relations between two wings of Parliamentary democracy. The time is ripe to devise measures that would deepen our democratic credentials such as allowing for wider public consultations; encouraging governments to engage with the opposition to break the legislative log-jam and a stricter test of emergency for issuing an Ordinance that would be open to assessment by the legislature. newline