Key Concepts & Self-Assessment15 Key Facts
Review key Ordinance Making Powers: Article 123 (Union) & Article 213 (State) exam facts and rate your mastery to track revision.
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#1
Article 123 empowers the President and Article 213 empowers State Governors to promulgate ordinances during the recess of the respective legislative houses.
#2
An ordinance has the same legal force as a regular statute enacted by Parliament or State Legislatures, but is strictly temporary in nature.
#3
Every ordinance must be laid before the legislature upon reassembly and expires automatically 6 weeks from the date of reassembly unless approved earlier.
#4
The maximum permissible lifespan of an ordinance without legislative sanction is 6 months and 6 weeks (accounting for the maximum 6-month gap between legislative sessions).
#5
In Krishna Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar (2017), a 7-judge Constitution Bench ruled that re-promulgating ordinances without placing them before the legislature is unconstitutional.
#6
The President can promulgate an ordinance under Article 123 only when both Houses of Parliament are not in session, or when either of the two Houses is not in session.
#7
An ordinance promulgated under Article 123 is subject to the same constitutional limitations as an Act of Parliament, meaning it cannot abridge Fundamental Rights under Article 13.
#8
Under Article 213, a Governor cannot promulgate certain ordinances without prior instructions from the President, especially if a state bill requiring presidential assent contains similar provisions.
#9
In RC Cooper v. Union of India (1970), known as the Bank Nationalisation case, the Supreme Court established that the President's subjective satisfaction to promulgate an ordinance is open to judicial challenge.
#10
The 38th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1975 made the President's satisfaction in issuing an ordinance final and non-justiciable, but this provision was deleted by the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1978.
#11
In DC Wadhwa v. State of Bihar (1987), the Supreme Court struck down the practice of repeatedly re-promulgating ordinances without legislative enactment as a subversion of the democratic process.
#12
If the legislature passes resolutions disapproving an ordinance before the expiry of the six-week period, the ordinance ceases to operate immediately upon passing of the resolution.
#13
The President may withdraw an ordinance at any time, acting on the binding aid and advice of the Union Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister under Article 74.
#14
The power to issue ordinances cannot be used to amend the Constitution of India, as constitutional amendments require compliance with the special constituent procedure laid down in Article 368.
#15
If the two Houses of Parliament reassemble on different dates, the statutory period of six weeks is calculated from the later of the two reassembly dates under Article 123(2)(a).
Subject Specialist Commentary
Analytical perspective & practical exam advice from the Master10 academic board
The executive ordinance power allows governments to handle urgent legislative situations when parliament or state assemblies are not sitting. Under Article 123 for the President and Article 213 for State Governors, an ordinance carries the exact same legal force as an enacted statute. However, this authority is strictly temporary; every ordinance must be placed before the legislature once it reconvenes and lapses within six weeks unless formally approved by lawmakers.
For UPSC civil services and State PSC exams, ordinance limitations provide prime material for conceptual questions. A common test trap involves calculating maximum lifespan: since the maximum gap between legislative sessions is six months, an ordinance can survive at most six months and six weeks without approval. Remember that an ordinance cannot violate fundamental rights under Article 13 or amend the Constitution. Review landmark cases like DC Wadhwa and Krishna Kumar Singh, which barred repeated re-promulgation as an unconstitutional fraud on legislative power.
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