What are the ordinance-making powers of the governor under Article 213 of the Indian Constitution?

Governor of an Indian state draws ordinance making power from Article 213 of the constitution. This article empowers the governor to promulgate ordinance on urgent matter during recess of legislature. To issue an ordinance, the governor must be satisfied with the circumstances that make it necessary for him / her to take immediate action.

Governor cannot promulgate an ordinance in any of the three situations give below:

• If the ordinance has the provisions which of embodied in a bill would require president’s sanction.
• If the ordinance has the provisions which the governor would reserve as a bill containing them for the president’s sanction.
• If an act of the state legislature has the same provisions that would be invalid without the assent of the president.

All ordinances promulgated by the Governor in the state have the same effect and force. The ordinance must be laid before the state legislature when it reassembles and it must be upheld by the State legislature, failure to which the ordinance would be invalid.

213. Power of Governor to promulgate Ordinances during recess of Legislature
(1) If at any time, except when the Legislative Assembly of a State is in session, or where there is a Legislative Council in a State, except when both Houses of the Legislature are in session, the Governor is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action, he may promulgate such Ordinance as the circumstances appear to him to require: Provided that the Governor shall not, without instructions from the President, promulgate any such Ordinance if
(a) a Bill containing the same provisions would under this Constitution have required the previous sanction of the President for the introduction thereof into the Legislature; or
(b) he would have deemed it necessary to reserve a Bill containing the same provisions for the consideration of the President; or
(c) an Act of the Legislature of the State containing the same provisions would under this Constitution have been invalid unless, having been reserved for the consideration of the President, it had received the assent of the President
(2) An Ordinance promulgated under this article shall have the same force and effect as an Act of Legislature of the State assented to by the Governor, but every such Ordinance
(a) shall be laid before the legislative Assembly of the State, or where there is a Legislative Council in the State, before both the House, and shall cease to operate at the expiration of six weeks from the reassembly of the Legislature, or if before the expiration of that period a resolution disapproving it is passed by the Legislative Assembly and agreed to by the Legislative Council, if any, upon the passing of the resolution or, as the case may be, on the resolution being agreed to by the Council; and
(b) may be withdrawn at any time by the Governor Explanation Where the Houses of the Legislature of a State having a Legislative Council are summoned to reassemble on different dates, the period of six weeks shall be reckoned from the later of those dates for the purposes of this clause
(3) If and so far as an Ordinance under this article makes any provision which would not be valid if enacted in an Act of the legislature of the State assented to by the Governor, it shall be void: Provided that, for the purposes of the provisions of this Constitution relating to the effect of an Act of the Legislature of a State which is repugnant to an Act of Parliament or an existing law with respect to a matter enumerated in the Concurrent List, an Ordinance promulgated under this article in the Concurrent List, an Ordinance promulgated under this article in pursuance of instructions from the President shall be deemed to be an Act of the Legislature of the State which has been reserved for the consideration of the president and assented to by him.