The power of the President to promulgate ordinances under Article 123 can be exercised only when?

Parliament is not in session, or one House is not in session. Article 123 allows the President to promulgate ordinances only when Parliament, or at least one of its Houses, is not in session. Read more: The President of India.

An ordinance promulgated by the President under Article 123 must be laid before Parliament and ceases to operate if not approved within how long of Parliament reassembling?

Six weeks. An ordinance ceases to operate six weeks after Parliament reassembles unless a resolution disapproving it is passed earlier or it is replaced by an Act. Read more: The President of India.

The President's power to issue ordinances is historically traced back to a similar emergency legislative power granted to the Governor-General under which earlier law?

Government of India Act, 1935. The President's ordinance-making power under Article 123 is modeled on a similar power the Governor-General held under the Government of India Act, 1935. Read more: The President of India.

Article 123 lets the President do what, when Parliament isn't in session?

Promulgate Ordinances with the same force as an Act of Parliament. Article 123 lets the President promulgate Ordinances, which carry the same legal force as an Act of Parliament. Read more: Polity0244 — Article 123: President's Ordinance-Making Power.

Article 213 is Article 123's exact counterpart at the state level. Who does it empower?

State Governors, to issue Ordinances for state subjects. Article 213 gives State Governors the same ordinance-making power Article 123 gives the President. Read more: Polity0244 — Article 123: President's Ordinance-Making Power.

In D.C. Wadhwa v. State of Bihar (1987), what specific practice did the Supreme Court strike down?

Repeatedly re-promulgating ordinances instead of placing them before the legislature. The Court struck down Bihar's practice of repeatedly re-promulgating ordinances instead of placing them before the legislature, calling it a fraud on the Constitution. Read more: Polity0244 — Article 123: President's Ordinance-Making Power.

Krishna Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar (2017) added an important check beyond D.C. Wadhwa. What did it establish?

Courts can review the President's or Governor's claimed 'satisfaction' behind an Ordinance. The 2017 ruling held that courts can review the President's or Governor's claimed satisfaction behind an Ordinance, at least in cases of bad faith or no relevant material. Read more: Polity0244 — Article 123: President's Ordinance-Making Power.

Article 123: President’s Ordinance-Making Power

Parliament is not in session, but the country needs a law right now. Article 123 lets the President step in and legislate by ordinance. It has the same force as an Act, but it lapses within six weeks of Parliament reassembling. This lesson covers the conditions, the limits, and the long fight over re-promulgation.

Article 123.

Power of The President.

Lapses Six weeks after Parliament reassembles.

Not allowed When even one House is in session.

Ordinance: Executive law with the force of an Act.

Re-promulgation: Reissuing a lapsed ordinance.

Laying: Placing it before both Houses.

Reassembly: Parliament meeting again after a break.

Contents

Chapter 1: The Conditions for an Ordinance
Chapter 2: How an Ordinance Dies
Chapter 3: Ordinance vs Act
Chapter 4: The Story of Re-promulgation
Chapter 5: Past Papers
Chapter 6: Ordinances in the News

1Chapter 1: The Conditions for an Ordinance

Must Know

The text, in plain words

Article 123(1) says the President may promulgate an ordinance only when both Houses are not in session.
The President must be satisfied that circumstances make immediate action necessary.
In practice, the Union Cabinet gives that advice.
An ordinance has the same force and effect as an Act of Parliament.
Every ordinance must be laid before both Houses when Parliament reassembles.

The trap

If even one House is in session, the President cannot promulgate an ordinance.
The power exists only when both are out of session.

Remember: Satisfaction + both Houses out of session + laying before Parliament = the three pillars.

True or False: The President can promulgate an ordinance while the Rajya Sabha is in session, if the Lok Sabha is not.

2Chapter 2: How an Ordinance Dies

Must Know

Three ways out

It ceases to operate six weeks after Parliament reassembles.
If both Houses pass resolutions disapproving it, it dies when the second resolution passes.
The President can also withdraw it at any time.

What stays valid

Everything done under the ordinance before it lapsed remains valid.

The competence limit

Article 123(3): an ordinance cannot make any provision Parliament could not itself enact.
If it does, that provision is void.
So an ordinance is a temporary law, not a permanent one.
Parliament must convert it into an Act to keep it alive.

True or False: An ordinance lapses six weeks after Parliament reassembles, unless converted into an Act.

3Chapter 3: Ordinance vs Act

Good to Know

Same force, different life

Force: for the time it lives, an ordinance has the same force as a parliamentary law.
Life: an Act is permanent. An ordinance dies automatically, six weeks after reassembly, unless re-enacted.
Judicial review: courts can examine whether the ordinance was within the President’s competence and the Constitution.
An ordinance can amend laws Parliament could amend.
Read more: Article 85: Sessions of Parliament and Legislative Procedure in Parliament.

True or False: An ordinance can amend a law that Parliament could amend, but it lapses unless converted.

4Chapter 4: The Story of Re-promulgation

Great to Know

A power built for emergencies

In 1950, the ordinance power was carried over from the Government of India Act, 1935.
Its purpose was genuine emergencies between sessions.

D.C. Wadhwa, 1987

Bihar had re-promulgated the same ordinances again and again, for years.
The Supreme Court struck this down as a fraud on the Constitution.
This case concerned the Governor’s ordinance power under Article 213.
Read more: Article 213: Governor’s Ordinance Power and The Governor: Office, Powers and Immunities.

Krishna Kumar Singh, 2017

A seven-judge bench held that re-promulgation is a constitutional fraud.
The exception is when the ordinance is placed before the legislature.
Re-promulgation bypasses parliamentary scrutiny.
So courts treat it as a fraud unless the legislature is genuinely unable to meet.

The pattern

A power meant for emergencies became a habit.
The courts keep pulling it back to its constitutional bounds.

Think it through: Think it through: why is re-promulgation a “fraud”?

An ordinance is meant to last only until the legislature can act on it. Reissuing it again and again lets the executive make law without ever facing the legislature. That defeats the whole point of the six-week limit.

True or False: D.C. Wadhwa related to the President’s ordinance power under Article 123.

5Chapter 5: Past Papers

Exam Point of View

CAPF 2020: statements on ordinances

The question asked which statements about promulgating ordinances are correct.
The correct ones track Article 123: both Houses out of session, satisfaction of immediate need, and laying before Parliament.
(Source: CAPF AC 2020, Q83.)

CAPF 2022: the D.C. Wadhwa case

The question asked which power the D.C. Wadhwa case relates to.
The answer is the Governor’s ordinance power (Article 213) and re-promulgation.
Wadhwa struck down repeated re-promulgation of ordinances without legislative approval.
(Source: CAPF AC 2022, Q65.)

UPSC 2025: ordinance statements

The question asked which statements about ordinances are correct, including whether an ordinance can amend an Act.
An ordinance can amend laws Parliament could amend, but it lapses unless converted.
Statements denying either half are traps.
(Source: UPSC CSP 2025, Q51.)

True or False: Wadhwa struck down repeated re-promulgation of ordinances without legislative approval.

6Chapter 6: Ordinances in the News

Current Affairs

Between sessions

From land laws to service rules, ordinances keep appearing between sessions.
Governments have used them for electoral reforms and land laws.
Each must be converted into an Act within six weeks of reassembly.
Article 123 is the constitutional clock that starts ticking the moment an ordinance is signed.

Quick Q&A

Which article? 123.
Lapses after? Six weeks from reassembly.
Who can promulgate? The President.
Wadhwa year? 1987.
Krishna Kumar Singh year? 2017.

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