RAS question
Article 123 ordinances must be laid before Parliament and cease to operate:
Correct answer: (A) 6 weeks after both Houses reassemble.
An Article 123 ordinance must be laid before both Houses of Parliament and ceases to operate six weeks after Parliament reassembles unless it is approved earlier.
Explanation
Article 123 gives the President power to promulgate ordinances only when both Houses of Parliament are not in session and immediate action appears necessary. The Constitution then builds in parliamentary control: every such ordinance has the same force as an Act of Parliament, but it must be laid before both Houses. It does not remain valid for a fixed period from the date of promulgation. Instead, it ceases to operate at the end of six weeks from the reassembly of Parliament. If the two Houses are summoned on different dates, the six-week period is counted from the later date. It can also end earlier if the required disapproval resolutions are passed.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) One year after promulgation is wrong because Article 123 ties the ordinance's expiry to Parliament's reassembly, not to a one-year period from promulgation.
- (C) Three months after promulgation is wrong because the constitutional limit stated for an ordinance is six weeks from the reassembly of Parliament.
- (D) Thirty days after reassembly is wrong because Article 123 specifies six weeks after Parliament reassembles, with the later date used if the Houses reassemble separately.
Concept
This tests the President's ordinance-making power under Article 123 and the parliamentary checks built into it. It recurs in RAS because ordinance-making sits at the intersection of executive urgency, legislative control and constitutional limits.