To
The Registrar,
Supreme Court of India,
New Delhi.
Subject: Non-notification of laws passed by the Parliament, assented to by the President of India, by the Executive and bureaucracy
Ref: Presidential reference on President, Governor’s powers which is being adjudicated by a five-judge Constitution bench and matters related thereof
Hon’ble Chief Justice of India and his companion judges,
Nation is expectantly waiting for a judgment on the aforementioned issue as it concerns “we the citizens’ so that a law passed by a duly elected legislature does not get confined to cold storage due to governmental/bureaucratic inertia.
We wish to bring to the notice of the five-judge constitution bench that there is yet one more area where in spite of this courts’ sincere efforts the law could be made un-operational by vested interests due to non-notification of the law in cases where there is no inbuilt clause in the law that it would come into operation immediately or after a stipulated time-period as in the case of Delhi Rent Act, 1995 (DRA, 1995).
The DRA, 1995 was passed by both Houses of Parliament, and received the assent of the President of India on August 23, 1995. It is not being enforced ostensibly because of successive Central governments getting blackmailed by the vested interests! In the last thirty years of the legislative history, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has either blatantly ignored the sagacious recommendations or wilfully not implemented the assurances given to several Parliamentary Committees (including the Committee on Petitions; Committee on Assurances; Committee on Subordinate Legislation; and three Parliamentary Standing Committees). The non-notification of the DRA, 1995 by the MoHUA is contemptuous of Parliament, the aforementioned Parliamentary Committees, as also the President of India. Even the pronouncements of the judiciary particularly during the last two decades urging the government for immediate rental law reform, including payment of market rent by tenants, have not been heeded to. This is collective contempt shown on this issue by the government towards Parliament, Parliamentary Committees, the President of India and Supreme Court of India.
By not issuing the relevant notification within a reasonable period, the executive effectively assumes the law-making functions. This is unconstitutional since the power to make laws rests with the legislature, not the executive. One of the defining features of our Constitution is the separation of powers between the legislature, executive and judiciary.
It is our earnest hope the power of the legislature, for example, through non-notification of Acts passed by Parliament and even assented to by the President of India are brought to a halt. Getting the DRA, 1995 to be notified could be the first step in that direction.
This is for your kind consideration.
Yours sincerely,
Paramjit Singh,
Convener, National Campaign Committee for Rental Law Reform
