Mains Practice Questions

Approach

• Start your answer by briefly introducing ordinance.
• Discuss reasons and impact on the governance of rising number of ordinances.
• Conclude accordingly.

Introduction

• The Constitution of India lays down the powers of the executive, legislature, and judiciary. The legislature is responsible for enacting laws, and the executive is responsible for implementing them.
  • However, in recent times, the Indian polity has witnessed a growing trend of using ordinances to bypass the legislative process.
  • Article 123 of the Indian Constitution grants the President the power to promulgate ordinances.
    • An ordinance is a law promulgated by the President of India on the advice of the Union Cabinet, when the Parliament is not in session.
    • The increasing use of ordinances undermines the role of the legislature in law-making, erodes democratic principles, and harms the accountability of the government to the people.

Body

• Reasons for the increased use of ordinances:
  • The Indian government has been using ordinances to bypass the legislative process for several reasons.
    • Firstly, ordinances can be used to respond quickly to emergencies, such as natural disasters or security threats.
    • Secondly, ordinances can be used to avoid delays in the legislative process caused by disagreements or obstructionism by the opposition parties.
    • Thirdly, ordinances can be used to implement policy decisions that are controversial and may not pass in the legislature.
    • Finally, ordinances can be used to bypass the scrutiny of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament, where most of the time the government does not have a majority.
• Impact on democracy and governance:
  • The increasing use of ordinances has several negative impacts on democracy and governance in India.
    • Firstly, it undermines the role of the legislature in law-making. Ordinances are meant to be temporary measures and should be ratified by the Parliament within six weeks of the reassembly of the Parliament.
      • However, the government has been using ordinances as a regular method of law-making, bypassing the legislature altogether.
      • This undermines the principle of separation of powers and weakens the accountability of the government to the people.
    • Secondly, the increasing use of ordinances erodes democratic principles.
      • The Constitution of India envisages a system of checks and balances, where the executive, legislature, and judiciary have separate powers, and no single entity can dominate the other.
        • The increasing use of ordinances undermines this principle and concentrates power in the hands of the executive.
      • Thirdly, the increasing use of ordinances harms the accountability of the government to the people.
        • Ordinances are promulgated without the scrutiny and debate of the legislature, which is the forum where elected representatives of the people can question and hold the government accountable.
        • The bypassing of the legislature through ordinances erodes the trust of the people in the democratic process and makes the government less accountable to the people.

Conclusion

• The increasing use of ordinances to bypass the legislative process is a worrying trend in the Indian polity. Ordinances are meant to be temporary measures to respond to emergencies, but the government has been using them as a regular method of law-making.
  • This undermines the role of the legislature in law-making, erodes democratic principles, and harms the accountability of the government to the people. The government should use ordinances sparingly and only in cases of emergencies and should rely on the legislative process to enact laws that reflect the will of the people.