Ordinance Raj not in tune with spirit of democracy
The decision of the Kerala cabinet to convene a special assembly session from August 22 exclusively for legislation business is timely and appropriate as it offers a solution to the latest tussle between Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the state government, and also upholds the government’s commitment to ideal practices of democracy. The move followed the lapsing of 11 ordinances, which the government recommended to repromulgate, but the governor refused to sign. The architects of the Constitution had wanted all legislations to be discussed in detail by lawmakers and passed. While the provision for ordinance was included under Article 213, this indirect route was intended to be taken only if circumstances necessitate immediate action.
In PRS India’s latest report, Kerala stood out for promulgating the maximum number of ordinances in 2021. While the state passed 144 ordinances, the national average (of all states) was five. Of the 144, as many as 53 were new ordinances. Considering the fact that the Kerala assembly met 61 days last year against the national average of 21 days, the state government’s gambit smacks of ordinance raj, which goes against the spirit of democracy.
Ordinance raj has earned thumbs down from the Supreme Court in several cases. In the famous Krishna Kumar Singh vs State Of Bihar case, the top court had ruled that repeated repromulgation of ordinances was a fraud on the Constitution, especially when the government appears to have persistently avoided the placement of the ordinances before the legislature. The foundation of the case was the revelation that successive Bihar governors promulgated and repromulgated 256 ordinances between 1967 and 1981, without placing them at least once before the assembly.
While the governor is expected to abide by the advice of a democratically elected government, Khan cannot be faulted for sending the 11 ordinances back as the government had an opportunity to bring them before the legislature in the last session that ended on July 21. With a proactive assembly and 14 subject committees to examine all new laws before they are introduced, Kerala should make framing new laws through the legislature a habit.