SC to examine re-promulgation of land ordinance

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed on the basis of a PIL to examine the constitutionality of President's power to re-promulgate an ordinance on the ground that it subverted legislative process.

"Court has issued a show cause notice to Union of India and its various ministries, asking for production of all documents relating to re-promulgation of land ordinance," said senior advocate, Indira Jaising.

The PIL was filed on Friday last week by Delhi Grameen Samaj, Bharatiya Kisan Union, Grameen Sewa Samiti and another NGO alleging that re-promulgation of the ordinance amounted to executive entering the impermissible domain of enacting legislation.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the government will soon respond to the questions raised by the court.

"The Supreme Court's notice to Central Government relates to certain technical aspects of re-promulgation of land ordinance. The government will respond to the questions raised by the court in stipulated time," said BJP spokesperson Narasimha Rao.

"This notice does not refer to contents of land ordinance, will not have any implications for passage of ordinance in RS," he added.