New Delhi: Three ordinances, including one which provides SEBI greater powers, are set to lapse next week as they cannot be repromulgated since the Winter session of Parliament has not been prorogued so far.
Besides the ordinance on SEBI, ordinances on Medical Council of India and another which gives Election Commission limited powers to make changes in Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe constituencies where some castes have been either excluded or included between the 2001 census and May 2012, will lapse on January 16.
The ordinances will lapse since rules prescribe that they have to be converted into Acts of Parliament within 42 days of the first sitting of any Parliament session. The 42 days' (six weeks) period will end on January 15 as the Winter session had begun on December 5.
As per rules, an ordinance cannot be repromulgated till the Parliament session has been prorogued by the President. So far, the two Houses of Parliament have only been adjourned sine die (adjournment without any appointed date of resumption). Government now plans to convene a fortnight-long session of Parliament in early February to pass the vote on account. It is likely to be an extension of the Winter session.
Government had recently promulgated a second ordinance granting greater powers to SEBI to check illicit investment schemes and other market manipulations, as a bill could not be passed during the last Parliament session to replace an earlier Ordinance in this regard. The first ordinance was promulgated on July 18, followed by introduction of the Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2013, in Parliament. However, this bill to replace the first ordinance could not be passed during the Monsoon session, which ended on September 7, thus requiring the need for a second Ordinance.
Among others, the ordinance has given SEBI greater powers to crack down on ponzi schemes, seek call data records to check insider trading and carry out search and seizure operations.
The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies ordinance seeks to give limited powers to the Election Commission to determine change in nomenclature of a parliamentary or assembly seat where a caste has been included or excluded from the SC/ST list in the past one decade. The move to bring the ordinance followed the stand taken by EC before the Supreme Court that it does not have the power to alter the SC/ST seats before a delimitation process.
The Commission had made its stand clear before the apex court after the bench asked it to consider the demand of a group of castes from Uttar Pradesh to reserve Assembly seats for STs depending on their population. The plea of the castes came after the state government shifted 10 castes from SC to ST list. After the 10 castes were added to the ST list, the number of communities rose from 5 to 15, and their population went up to 6.5 lakh from one lakh, which made them demand reserving the constituency for STs.
A bill to replace the ordinance is pending in Parliament. Government had recently promulgated a fresh ordinance relating to the governance of Medical Council of India. Under the fresh ordinance, the MCI Board of Governors will be functional till November 10 as was stated in the previous one. The need for a fresh ordinance came after the earlier ordinance issued on May 21 by the President, granting legality to its Board of Governors, lapsed and government failed to get it replaced with an act.
The need for issuance of an ordinance came as the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2013, which allows for an elected apex medical regulator, is yet to be passed by Parliament. The MCI was being run by a seven-member Board of Governors headed by its chairman — all of whom were nominated by the government.
