RAS question
Under Article 123, the President can promulgate an ordinance when:
Correct answer: (A) When both Houses of Parliament are not in session.
Under Article 123, the President may promulgate an ordinance when both Houses of Parliament are not simultaneously in session and immediate action is required.
Explanation
Article 123 gives the President ordinance-making power during a recess of Parliament, but only outside the period when both Houses are in session. The official text says that if, except when both Houses are in session, the President is satisfied that circumstances require immediate action, he may promulgate ordinances as those circumstances require. This is why the key condition is the absence of both Houses from simultaneous session: an ordinance can operate when neither House is sitting, and even when only one House is sitting, because ordinary legislation requires action by both Houses. The explanation also notes the parliamentary check: the ordinance must be laid before Parliament on reassembly and ceases to operate six weeks after reassembly unless approved.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Parliament being in session as both Houses removes the Article 123 condition, because the power applies only except when both Houses are in session.
- (C) Article 123 is not confined to a National Emergency; the stated trigger is Parliament not being simultaneously in session and circumstances requiring immediate action.
- (D) Article 123 requires the President's satisfaction about urgent circumstances, not prior approval from the Supreme Court.
Concept
This tests the constitutional scheme of ordinance-making power under the legislative powers of the President. It recurs in RAS because it links executive law-making, parliamentary control, and the limits of emergency-style governance.