Sachin Kumar, O.P Jindal Global University
FACTS
Four petitioners filed writ petitions to check on the common practice of promulgating and repromulgating ordinances in the state of Bihar. Through these petitions, the petitioners tried to pass through the constitutional prism, three ordinances promulgated by the governor of Bihar to check their constitutional validity. The three ordinances which were passed through the constitutional prism to check their constitutional validity were Bihar Forest Produce (regulations of trade) third ordinance, 1983 (Hereinafter referred to as Ordinance I),2 The Bihar Intermediate Education Council Third Ordinance, 1983 (Hereinafter referred to as Ordinance II),3 and, The Bihar Bricks Supply (Control) Third Ordinance, 1983 (Hereinafter referred to as Ordinance III).
The first petitioner a professor teaching in a college situated in Pune, Maharashtra, D.C. Wadhwa. Being an ardent promoter and preserver of the way, the constitution operates, he closely looked at the infamous practice of repromulgating ordinances without their enactment through the legislature. The second petitioner was affected Ordinance I.5 The issue of the petitioner was that due to this ordinance, as this ordinance adversely affected the petitioners right to dispose of his forest produce as the provisions prevented him from selling his forest produce to any purchaser other than the ones who were mentioned in the ordinance. The third petitioner in this case was an intermediate student of A.N. College, Patna and was affected by Ordinance II.6 For this ordinance, the constitutional validity of the ordinance was challenged. The fourth petitioner who was a brick manufacturer working as the proprietor of South Bihar Agency and he challenged Ordinance III.7 The ordinance had an impact on the petitioner because it gave the state government the authority to control and regulate the production, sale, delivery, transportation, disposal, and consumption of bricks, which in turn influenced the price at which they were purchased and sold. Now, when the matter went into the court, the thorough research done by D.C. Wadhwa was presented before the court. According to this research between 1967 and 1981, the Governor of Bihar issued 256 ordinances, all of which were renewed periodically for additional one- to fourteen-year terms. 69 of these original 256 ordinances were re-promulgated and retained in effect with the approval of India's president. Ordinances that had previously expired when the State Legislature was prorogued were re- promulgated with essentially the same provisions nearly as a matter of course.
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