Article 356 -Proclamation Of Emergency

Article 356 refers to State Emergency I.e. President’s Rule. It refers to the emergency imposed in the state due to the report of the governor, resulting to which the state functions according to the President. It explores different types of emergencies in the Constitution of India.

1. National Emergency.
2. State Emergency.
3. Financial emergency.

What is an emergency?

Black law’s dictionary defines emergency “as a failure of social system to deliver reasonable conditions of life”. The term emergency may be defined as “circumstances arising suddenly that calls for immediate action by the public authorities under the powers especially granted to them”.

• National emergency:

If the President is satisfied that a grave emergency exists whereby the security of India or any part of the territory thereof is threatened, whether by war or external aggression then the president may proclaim a national emergency.

In India national emergency has been imposed three times:-

1. 1962 – It was imposed due to Chinese aggression.
2. 1971 – It was imposed during the Indo Pak war.
3. 1975 – It was imposed by P. M. Indira Gandhi under the heading of internal disturbances.

In Rameshwar Prasad V. UOI (Bihar Assembly Dissolution Case) it was held that the presidential proclamation dissolving state assembly in Bihar under Art.356 was unconstitutional on extraneous and irrelevant ground. The court said that the state governor misled the centre in recommending dissolution of state assembly

In the historic case of S.R Bommai V. UOI, a full bench of the Karnataka High court produced different opinion about the imposition of the President’s rule in Karnataka, while in other states the court held that it was in violation of the constitution and would have restored the original position.

• The proclamation (of President’s Rule) is subject to judicial review on grounds of mala fide intention. The imposition of Article 356 should be justified by the centre.
• The court has the power to revive the suspended or dissolved state government if the grounds for the imposition is found to be invalid and unconstitutional.
• The state assembly cannot be dissolved before parliamentary approval for the imposition of Article 356 and the President can only suspend the assembly.
• Serious allegations of corruption against the state ministry and financial instability are not grounds for the imposition of Article 356.
• Any action by the state government that leads to the security of secularism (which is a basic feature of the Constitution) cannot be grounds for the use of Article 356.
• Article 356 cannot be used to sort out any intraparty issues in the ruling party.
• If the Ministry of the state resigns or is dismissed or loses the majority, then the governor cannot advise the President to impose this article until enough steps are taken by the governor for the formation of an alternative government.
• The power under Article 356 is to be used only in case of exigencies. It is an exceptional power.

•State Emergency:

If the president is convinced that a situation has occurred in which the government of the state cannot be carried out by the provision of the govt. then the president may declare a State Emergency. It has been imposed several times.

• Financial emergency:

A financial emergency is related to the economic stability of the country. Providentially, it hasn’t been imposed in India yet.The president under Article 360 of the constitution has the power to declare financial emergency if he is satisfied that the financial stability or the credit of India or any part of its territory is threatened. It has to be laid before both the Houses of Parliament and ceases to operate at the expiration of two months unless meanwhile approved by the resolution of Houses.

During constituent assembly debates, Dr. Ambedkar made clear that “whether there is good government or not in the province (state) is not for the Centre to determine”, adding that he hoped that Article 356 would remain a “dead letter”.

Political Misuse of Article 356:-

• In its 2015 report, Sarkaria Committee noted that since independence, it has been used over 100 times. In almost all cases it was used for political considerations rather than any genuine problem.
• The President’s proclamation of President’s Rule should include reasons as to why he thinks the state cannot run normally.
• Whenever possible, the centre should give the state government a warning before imposing Article 356.
• The Article should not be used for settling political scores.
• The commission recommended the amendment of the article in order for the President to be authorised to dissolve the state legislature only after getting parliamentary approval.
•  Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi used Article 356 for 27 times to remove majority governments on the ground of political stability, absence of clear mandate or withdrawal of support, etc.
•  In 1977, the Janata government removed nine state Congress governments, when they formed the government for the first time.
• Manipur witnessed the most frequent application of Article 356 due to deeply fragmented internal politics of the state, as well as long periods of violence.
• The Punchhi Commission recommended that the centre should try to bring only a specific troubled area under its jurisdiction and that too for a brief period, not more than three months.
• The commission recommended that suitable amendments should be made to incorporate the guidelines established by SC in the Bommai case.
• The commission recommended the provision of a ‘Localized Emergency’ which implies that the centre can tackle issues at town/district (local) level without dissolving the state legislative assembly while at the same time, performing the duty of the Union to protect States as per Article 355.

The frequency of using Article 356 has been greatly reduced since mid-1990s despite an increasingly higher number of states being ruled by parties other than that in the central government.This happened due to two factors: emboldening of regional parties and intervention by the Supreme Court.

Effect of Proclamation of Emergency

While a proclamation of emergency is in operation, then :-

• Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, the executive power of the Union shall extend to the giving of directions to any State as to the manner in which the executive power thereof is to be exercised;

 The power of Parliament to make laws with respect to any matter shall include power to make laws conferring powers and imposing duties, or surprising the conferring of powers and the imposition of duties, upon the union or officers and authorities of the Union as respects that matter, notwithstanding that it is one which is not enumerated in the Union .

( This article is written by Mansi Soni of GHRLC {M.H} Nagpur)