Answer:
APPROACH AND STRUCTURE
THE INTRODUCTION: Start with provisions related to governor as given in the Constitution.
THE BODY
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- Then write about the legislative powers of the Governor.
- Then write about the essential conditions for the same.
- Then write about the issues of legality of re-promulgation of ordinances by the Governor.
THE CONCLUSION: An ordinance re-promulgated should be placed on the floor of the house and let the legislature take action on it as separation of power doctrine provides law making as a legislative function.
THE INTRODUCTION:
Articles 153 to 162 of the Indian Constitution cover the appointment of the governor, his authority, and all other aspects of the office. Governor is both a titular or constitutional head and an agent of the centre, as the union government appoints Governors in each state.
THE BODY:
A governor holds office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office. However, this term of five years is subject to the pleasure of the President. The governor has various constitutional powers to ensure that the state is governed constitutionally. The Governor of the state has executive, legislative, financial, and judicial powers. A governor is an integral part of the state legislature. In that capacity, he has the following legislative powers and functions:
1. He can summon or prorogue the state legislature and dissolve the state legislative assembly.
2. He can address the state legislature at the commencement of the first session after each general election and the first session of each year.
3. He can send messages to the house or houses of the state legislature, with respect to a bill pending in the legislature or otherwise.
4. A Bill requires the Governor’s assent to become an The Governor can use various veto powers or reserve the Bill for the consideration of the President.
5. He can promulgate ordinances when the state legislature is not in session. These ordinances must be approved by the state legislature within six weeks from its reassembly. He can also withdraw an ordinance anytime. This is the most important legislative power of the governor.
Recently there have been instances where the Governor was accused by the State Govts for violating the constitutional provisions with respect to legislative powers. Some examples have been given below:
| MAHARASHTRA |
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| RAJASTHAN |
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| KERALA |
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| OTHERS |
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Due to such controversies, it is necessary that the Governor uses the legislative power including the power to promulgate ordinances based on some essential conditions which are:
| General Legislative Power | Ordinance Making Power |
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As the ordinance making power of the Governor is in the nature of law making by the executive, it is subject to various restrictions, including a maximum duration of six months and six weeks. Every ordinance issued by the Governor during the recess of assembly must be laid before the House when it reassembles. If the ordinance is approved by the House, it becomes an act. If it takes no action at all, the ordinance ceases to operate on the expiry of six weeks from the reassembly.
As such, there is no constitutional bar on re-promulgation of the ordinances, and issuing the same ordinance again may be required under some conditions and hence may be legal. But the repeated re-promulgation has been criticised by the SC in D C Wadhwa case,1987. In that case, between 1967– 1981, the Governor of Bihar promulgated 256 ordinances, and all these were kept in force for periods ranging from one to fourteen years by promulgation from time to time. The court ruled that successive promulgation of ordinances with the same text without any attempt to get the bills passed by the assembly would amount to violation of the Constitution and the ordinance so promulgated is liable to be struck down. It held that the exceptional power of law-making through ordinance cannot be used as a substitute for the legislative power of the state legislature. Thus, DC Wadhwa case does not altogether rule of necessity of repromulgation.
But, Supreme Court in Krishna Kumar Singh v. the State of Bihar, 2017 held that the authority to issue ordinances is not absolute but is “conditional upon satisfaction that circumstances exist rendering it necessary to take immediate action”. It further stated that the re- promulgation of ordinances is a fraud on the Constitution and a subversion of democratic legislative processes. Even after this, the Union has repromulgated ordinances.
THE CONCLUSION:
But, all the instances of re-promulgation may not be illegal but, on the contrary may be necessary as in a pandemic/war like situation when the house could not assemble at all. In such a condition re-promulgation may be legal but in other such situations of political expediency, an ordinance re-promulgated should be placed on the floor of the house and let the legislature take action on it as separation of power doctrine provides law making as a legislative function.
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