SC on 2
nd Jan 2017 passed a ruling stating that re-promulgation of an ordinance was a fraud on the Constitution.
It also ruled that ordinances passed by the President and State Governors by bypassing the legislature are not immune from judicial review.
Decision was taken by a constitution bench comprising 7 justices headed by CJ TS Thakur with a majority of 6-1.
The bench states that since an ordinance has the same force as law passed by legislature, it should be placed before the parliament at centre or state level.
Failure in placing the ordinance before the Parliament or state legislature would be a serious constitutional violation.
Apart from CJ Thakur, all others including Justices Uday Umesh Lalit, L. Nageswara Rao, Adarsh Kumar Goel and SA Bobde agreed to the decision.
The ruling also said the court would review if the President or Governor would implement the ordinance based on relevant or ulterior motives.
No legal rights will be given to beneficiaries of ordinance after expiry/withdrawal.
The riling came with the re-promulgation of the Bihar Sanskrit Schools Ordinance (1989).
The Bihar state govt approached SC following Patna HC verdict which stated repeated promulgation of the ordinance was unconstitutional.
