Haryana Judicial Service (Civil Judge) Prelims 2010 Previous Year Question Papers with MCQ Answers

The correct option is C: must be laid before Parliament when it re-assembles.

An ordinance is a law that is promulgated by the President of India only when the Indian parliament is not in session. The President can issue an ordinance on the recommendation of the union cabinet. An ordinance has the same force and effect as an Act of Parliament, but it has some limitations:

- An ordinance must be laid before both Houses of Parliament and shall cease to operate at the expiration of six weeks from the reassembly of Parliament, or, if before the expiration of that period resolutions disapproving it are passed by both Houses, upon the passing of the second of those resolutions.

- An ordinance may be withdrawn at any time by the President.

- An ordinance cannot make any provision which Parliament would not under the Constitution be competent to enact.

Therefore, an ordinance does not have an indefinite life (option A is wrong) or a fixed duration of one year (option B is wrong). It depends on the parliamentary approval and the President's discretion. Option D is also wrong because option C is correct.