Article 123 — Power of President to Promulgate Ordinances

(1) If at any time, except when both Houses of Parliament are in session, the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action, he may promulgate such Ordinances as the circumstances appear to him to require.

(2) An Ordinance promulgated under this article shall have the same force and effect as an Act of Parliament, but every such Ordinance — (a) shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament and shall cease to operate at the expiration of six weeks from the reassembly of Parliament...

(4) If and so far as an Ordinance under this article makes any provision which Parliament would not under this Constitution be competent to enact, it shall be void.

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The ordinance-making power has been used frequently and controversially. Between 1952 and 2014, over 600 ordinances were promulgated. The Supreme Court in D. C. Wadhwa v. State of Bihar (1987) held that re-promulgating the same ordinance repeatedly to avoid Parliament's scrutiny was a 'fraud on the Constitution.' In Krishna Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar (2017), a seven-judge Constitution bench reaffirmed D. C. Wadhwa, adding that the satisfaction of the President/Governor is not absolute and can be subject to judicial review on grounds of constitutional mala fides.

• Article 74
• Article 107
• Article 111

Last reviewed: 1 July 2026