Presidential Legislation in India
The Law and Practice of Ordinances

This book is a study of the president of India's authority to enact legislation (or ordinances) at the national level without involving parliament.

Shubhankar Dam (Author)

9781107039711, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 December 2013

272 pages, 21 tables
23.5 x 15.6 x 1.8 cm, 0.51 kg

'This book is essential reading for anyone interested in constitutionalism, the rule of law and Indian democracy. It lays out a detailed analysis of the ordinance-making power of the Indian President and a vigorous argument for a reappraisal of its interpretation and use. Challenging the apparent clarity of the constitutional text, and invoking deeper arguments of constitutional principle, it bravely rejects the widespread assumption that legislation and ordinances are equivalent and highlights the exceptional and deeply problematic nature of the President's power to enact legislation.' Simon Evans, University of Melbourne

India has a parliamentary system. Yet the president has authority to occasionally enact legislation (or ordinances) without involving parliament. This book is a study of ordinances at the national level in India, centred around three themes. First, it tells the story of how an artefact of British constitutional history, over time, became part of India's legislative system. Second, it offers an empirical account of the ways in which presidents have resorted to ordinances in post-independence India. Third, the book analyses a range of ordinance-related questions, including some that are yet to be judicially adjudicated. In the process, the book explains why much of India's Supreme Court's jurisprudence is mistaken, and what should take its place. Overall, the book explains why the fate of parliamentary reforms in India may be tied to the reform of this provision for ordinances. Presidential Legislation in India offers a new frame through which to assess the executive's legislative powers both in parliamentary and presidential systems.

Part I. Origins and Practice: 1. The transplant effect: early origins of ordinances in England and India
2. Surrogate legislation: an empirical account of ordinances, 1952–2009
Part II. Law and Interpretation: 3. Negotiating the text: ordinances, Article 123, and the interpretative deficit
4. Reading minds: presidential satisfaction and judicial review of ordinances
5. The power of no: presidents, cabinets, and the making of ordinances.

Subject Areas: Constitutional & administrative law [LND], Comparative law [LAM], Law [L], Black & Asian studies [JFSL3]