The Union Cabinet on Tuesday gave ‘post facto approval’ to the ordinance, a first in the independent parliamentary history of the country, promulgated by President Pranab Mukherjee late on Sunday night to amend the Enemy Property Act.
A miffed Mr. Mukherjee signed the ordinance “in public interest” after making his displeasure known to the government for leaving him with no option but to sign on papers not cleared by the Cabinet. Had the President not approved the ordinance, the amended provisions of the Enemy Property law — which got a life on the strength of a presidential ordinance first promulgated in the first week of January and renewed subsequently three more times — would have become null and void.
Rule 12
Since the government could not get the required parliamentary approval in the just-concluded session (adjourned sine die on August 12), Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked Rule 12 of business and transactions to seek re-promulgation of the ordinance by the President.
At a brief news conference here, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the “Cabinet today [on Wednesday] gave post facto approval to re-promulgation of the ordinance.”
The amended provisions are to guard against claims of succession or transfer of properties left by people who migrated to Pakistan and China after the wars in 1965 and 1962. Thanks to the amended version now, once a property is deemed as enemy property, no claims of ownership will be entertained, even if classification of the enemy changes in due course of time.
In a note while re-promulgating the ordinance, President Mukherjee had pointed out that Cabinet approval was mandatory and exceptions must not be treated as a precedent.
Against ordinance route
As a stickler to the rules, regulations and law of the land as prescribed by the Constitution Mr. Mukherjee has never been comfortable with the governments, Centre or States, taking the ordinance route. In the last two years, questions have been raised on the frequent recourse of the Modi government to the ordinance route and whether the President should have assented to all the governments for issue of ordinances.
