Re-promulgation of ordinances is illegal, the apex court ruled, in a judgment that will be applicable to all central ordinances, including demonetisation.
Thanks to a recent Supreme Court judgment declaring the re-promulgation of ordinances unconstitutional, the government’s effort to validate demonetisation through ordinances may come to naught.
The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Ordinance, promulgated in December to give effect to demonetisation, faces the risk of becoming unconstitutional if re-promulgated after the end of the next session of parliament. This is because the government has failed to obtain sufficient support in the Rajya Sabha for the ordinance to be replaced by a Bill.
Even otherwise, the ordinance lacks the necessary rationale to explain its urgency and may not stand judicial scrutiny, if challenged. The same apex court judgment upholds judicial review of the president’s satisfaction of the “circumstances which render it necessary for him to take immediate action” through the promulgation of an ordinance.
Please click here to read more.