ordinance

The seminal question that came up in reference before the seven-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur dealt with the constitutionality of seven successive re-promulgations of The Bihar Non-Government Sanskrit Schools (Taking Over of Management and Control) Ordinance of 1989. The State government had approached the Supreme Court after the High Court of Patna declared that repeated re-promulgation of the ordinances was unconstitutional after relying on the D.C. Wadhwa judgment on the dos and don’ts of promulgation of ordinances by another Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in 1986.

Confirming the High Court’s view, Justice Chandrachud, supported by Chief Justice Thakur in a separate judgment, held that “re-promulgation of ordinances is a fraud on the Constitution and a subversion of democratic legislative processes.”

Mandatory obligation

“The requirement of laying an ordinance before Parliament or the State Legislature is a mandatory constitutional obligation cast upon the government,” Justice Chandrachud held in the common judgment