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"The legislative process in India's parliamentary system, like elsewhere, is a shared exercise: the executive and the legislature partake in it. Ordinarily, proposals for legislation originate in the cabinet. If the cabinet decides that a law is necessary, a bill is drafted, on occasions, with external inputs. After it is introduced in the two houses, the bill goes through several 'readings', committee hearings and amendments. The final draft is debated and voted on. If a bill secures the requisite majority in both houses, it is sent to the president for assent, upon which the bill becomes an Act. Parliament, in this formal view, is central to the legislative process, and legislation are products of among other things a rational-legal scrutiny and vote. In practice, parliament is less than central; the legislative process rarely confirms to the constitutional ideal type. Take, for example, political parties and their influence on the legislative process. The party to which a government belongs can have adisproportionate say in policy and legislative matters. Indeed, depending on the personalities involved, legislative proposals may even originate and take shape in party headquarters. Or consider a coalition government. A cabinet's decision to introduce a bill may be evidence of compulsion, not necessity. It may be a price for keeping the coalition together or a political maneuvering to secure new allies. Also, consider the influence of non-representative actors and their ability to direct legislative proposals"--
List of contents
Part I. Origins and Practice: 1. The transplant effect: early origins of ordinances in England and India; 2. Surrogate legislation: an empirical account of ordinances, 1952-2009; Part II. Law and Interpretation: 3. Negotiating the text: ordinances, Article 123, and the interpretative deficit; 4. Reading minds: presidential satisfaction and judicial review of ordinances; 5. The power of no: presidents, cabinets, and the making of ordinances.
About the author
Shubhankar Dam is an Assistant Professor of Law at Singapore Management University School of Law. He graduated from the University of Oxford (BCL) as a Felix Scholar, and from Harvard Law School (LLM) as a Harvard University Dana Scholar. He has held visiting positions in universities and research institutions in Australia, India, and Germany. His research interests are in the fields of law and governance in India and comparative constitutional law, and he has published in journals from Australia, India, The Netherlands, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
