Ordinance by default

The government may have been unsuccessful in trying to overturn the Supreme Court's judgment barring tainted politicians from contesting elections. But its chosen route of introducing an ordinance seems to have had an impact on the judiciary all the same. The government recently filed a petition requesting a modification of an order on the issue of making Aadhaar mandatory for people availing of government services. When the matter came up for hearing on Tuesday, the Supreme Court did not change its stance on the issue despite persistent arguments from the government's lawyers. Instead, the bench hearing the matter took a dig at the government by suggesting that it could take the ordinance route on this issue as well.