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The government, averse to proroguing one of the Houses of Parliament, is likely to let the land ordinance lapse on April 5. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his senior ministers favour re-promulgating the ordinance once the Parliament session concludes on May 8. It is likely that the government might re-promulgate the ordinance endlessly every six months. The Constitution does not specify the number of times an ordinance can be re-promulgated.
The government had promulgated the land ordinance, aimed at amending the 2013 Land Act, in end December. A bill to replace the land ordinance was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 10, but is yet to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha. An ordinance has a life of six months but lapses if not approved within six weeks of the commencement of a Parliament session. An ordinance also cannot be promulgated if either of the two Houses is in session, including in the scenario when the Houses are observing a break.
The first half of the budget session of Parliament started on February 23 and went in for a month long break on March 20 before the second half convenes on April 20. The six weeks of the Land Bill expire on April 6. The session ends on May 8. According to constitutional experts like Subhash C Kashyap, the government can re-promulgate the ordinance the very day and that too with retrospective effect, which is from the day the ordinance lapsed on April 6. There is also nothing in the Constitution that bars re-promulgating an ordinance endlessly, Kashyap says.
Other options with the government include proroguing, that is ending, one of the two Houses to facilitate re-promulgating the ordinance with immediate effect from April 6.
As for the legislative process, the government can introduce the bill in the Rajya Sabha when the Houses meet after the break. The government is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha and can expect the Opposition to insist that the bill be sent to a select committee. It can also await the Opposition to defeat the Bill. This will pave the way for convening a joint sitting of Parliament to ensure the passage of the bill. But the joint sitting mechanism is also tricky if the Shiv Sena, which has opposed the bill, joins the ranks of a united opposition in voting against it. The National Democratic Alliance, without the Sena, has less than half the seats of the two Houses combined.
According to people in the know, the option of re-promulgating the ordinance looks most realistic given that Prime Minister Modi is committed to the land bill. Senior government ministers held a meeting at the PM's residence on Tuesday evening to chart out future strategy on the issue.
"People are judging the potential impact of the bill sitting in big cities without realising the thirst for development among the youth of smaller towns and villages. People had made fun of Modi ji when he had promised 24x7 power supply to towns and villages of Gujarat but had to eat crow when his government made it a reality," Shrikant Sharma, BJP national secretary, said reflecting the government and BJP's conviction that the land bill was a panacea to the lack of hospitals, schools, roads, power supply, check dams, irrigation and other development that ails large parts of India.
The BJP has put in place a team of dozen spokesperson in every state to reach out to the media, while it expects its nine crore newly made party members to talk to farmers that the land bill was as much about making agriculture more profitable by providing better irrigation facilities as it was for job generation for their children.
The prospect of losing Bihar assembly because of opposition propaganda on land acquisition does not worry the Modi government. The PM wants to go into the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with development that he can show on the ground, and he is convinced that the land bill or ordinance is essential for him to achieve all that he promised in the 2014 elections.
Land ordinance options
Allow it to lapse on April 5, re-promulgate in back date when session concludes on May 8
Re-promulgate it endlessly while keeping it in abeyance in RS
Prorogue one House by April 5 to re-promulgate with immediate effect
Introduce in RS, call joint session if bill defeated
