The bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan invoked Article 142 to take over the role vested with the Governor in the lawmaking process. The extraordinary power to pass orders to do “complete justice” is sparingly used by the Court, especially when it involves other Constitutional authorities.
The Court has also redrawn the contours of the Governor’s powers by prescribing a one-month time limit to exercise his lawmaking powers. The ruling is likely to have an impact on a similar case challenging the then Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan’s powers in withholding assent to Bills passed by the state Assembly.
Although…