Kerala Governor refuses to extend ordinance, government asks for special Assembly session

After Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan refused to re-promulgate ordinances—11 of them stand to lapse because of this—the state government decided on Wednesday to convene a special session of the Assembly to pass bills that would replace these ordinances.

The cabinet decided to recommend to the Governor about an Assembly session to be convened from August 22. According to officials, a 10-day session, till September 2, was being planned.

The Governor reiterated on Wednesday that he would not re-promulgate the ordinances without properly studying why they are required. The number of ordinances to be repeatedly repromulgated multiplied manifold since the 1950s, according to a news report.

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The 11 ordinances that lapsed on Monday included the controversial amendment to Kerala Lok Ayukta Act, empowering the government to review the Lok Ayukta’s directives that would disqualify public servants. Among these 11 were also ordinances that were repromulgated over five times.

The governor’s decision against repromulgation was subsequent to the purported decision of the Left-front government to curtail the governor’s powers, especially in selecting vice-chancellors in his capacity as the Chancellor.

Officials also said that Khan might have considered the Supreme Court’s 2017 directive which stated that re-promulgating ordinances needed to be considered as unconstitutional. Moreover, as per the rules, existing ordinances “cease to operate” six weeks after the two Houses reassemble, thus any ordinance should be replaced with a bill and passed in the house with priority as soon as an Assembly session begins.

However, the state government did not make any efforts towards this, which could also be the reason the Governor decided not to re-promulgate the ordinances.