As per article 123, the ordinance making power is the most important legislative power of ____________.

Correct — C. Article 123 empowers the President to promulgate an ordinance at any time except when both Houses of Parliament are in session, if immediate action is needed.

An ordinance has the same force and effect as an Act of Parliament, but it is temporary. It must be laid before both Houses when they reassemble and ceases to operate six weeks from that reassembly unless approved earlier.

The office the article names is option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Rajya Sabha — Rajya Sabha is a House of Parliament, and an ordinance exists precisely because the Houses are not sitting. A House approves or rejects an ordinance later; it does not promulgate one.
• (b)
  Chief Justice of India — The Chief Justice of India heads the judiciary, which interprets law rather than making it. Ordinance-making is an executive power, and the courts come in only to review its use.
• (d)
  Legislative council — A Legislative Council is the upper House of a state legislature. The state-level ordinance power belongs to the Governor under Article 213, not to the Council.

The ordinance is the executive's law-making power for the gaps between legislative sessions.

Article 123 vests it in the President for the Union, and Article 213 gives the parallel power to the Governor in a state.

An ordinance is co-extensive with Parliament's own legislative power, carries the force of an Act, and lapses unless Parliament adopts it — six weeks after reassembly at the outside.

The President acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers, so in practice the ordinance is the Cabinet's instrument.

Key facts

• Article 123 empowers the President to promulgate ordinances when both Houses of Parliament are not in session.
• An ordinance has the same force and effect as an Act of Parliament.
• An ordinance ceases to operate six weeks after Parliament reassembles unless approved earlier.
• Article 213 gives the Governor the same power at the state level.

Common traps

• Choosing a House of Parliament, when the whole premise of an ordinance is that the Houses are not sitting.
• Swapping Article 123 for Article 213, which belongs to the Governor.

No directly related past PYQ was found.