ORDINANCE
- POLITY
News:
Issue ordinance for MSP
guarantee, then continue talks, farmers tell Centre
What's
in the news?
●
A day ahead of the crucial meeting with
the Centre, the protesting farmers from Punjab camping at different locations
along the boundary with Haryana asked the Union government to bring an
ordinance for a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) on crops.
Ordinance
Making Power of the President:
●
Article
123
of the Indian Constitution grants the President of India certain Lawmaking
powers, i.e., to promulgate Ordinances when either of the two Houses of the
Parliament is not in session, which makes it impossible for a single House to
pass and enact a law.
●
These Ordinances have the same effect as an Act of Parliament.
Features:
●
Ordinances may relate to any subject that the Parliament has the
power to make law and would be having the same limitations.
●
The Ordinances may have a retrospective effect and may modify or
repeal any act of Parliament or other ordinances. It may be used to amend a tax
law, but it can never amend the Constitution.
Period
of Ordinance:
●
The
President may withdraw an ordinance at any time.
However, he exercises his power with the consent of the Council of Ministers
headed by the President.
Limitations
of Ordinance:
1.
Legislature is not in Session:
●
The President can only promulgate an
Ordinance when either of the two Houses of Parliament is not in session.
2.
Requirement of Immediate Action:
●
The President cannot promulgate an
Ordinance unless he is satisfied that there are circumstances that require
taking ‘immediate action’.
3.
Parliament Approval:
●
Ordinances must be approved by Parliament
within six weeks of reassembling or they shall cease to operate.
●
The same will cease to operate if
disapproved by either House.
4.
Judicial Review:
●
In various judicial pronouncements, the
Supreme Court has held that the President’s Ordinance making power is not
beyond the scope of judicial review.