EmergencyProvisionsintheConstitutionofIndia
EmergencyprovisionsweremadeinConstitutiontosafeguardandprotectthesecurity,integrityan
dstabilityofthecountryandeffectivefunctioningofStateGovernments.Emergencyisauniquefeat
ureofIndianConstitutionthatallowsthecentertoassumewidepowerssoastohandlespecialsituati
ons.EmergencyProvisionsarecontainedinPartEighteenoftheConstitutionofIndia.ThePresiden
1
tofIndiahasthepowertoimposeemergencyruleinanyoralltheIndianstatesifthesecurityofpartor
allofIndiaisthreatenedby"warorexternalaggressionorarmedrebellion".WhentheConstitution
ofIndiawasbeingdrafted,Indiawaspassingthroughaperiodofstressandstrain.Partitionofthecou
ntry,communalriotsandtheproblemconcerningthemergerofprincelystatesincludingKashmir.
Thus,theConstitution-
makersthoughttoequiptheCentralGovernmentwiththenecessaryauthority,sothat,inthehourof
emergency,whenthesecurityandstabilityofthecountryisthreatenedbyinternaland
externalthreat 2
s.
th
TheConstitutionofIndiacontainsArticles352-
360whichdealswith'EmergencyProvisions'.Theemergencyprovisions(especiallyArts.352and3
56)havebeenexclusivelyamendedbythe
Constitution(4 th
1
Amendment)Act,withaviewtointroduceanumberofsafeguardsagainst
4
abuseofpowerbytheexecutiveinthenameofemergency.Amendmentshavethusbeenmadebythe
44AmendmenttotheemergencyprovisionoftheConstitutiontomakerepetitionofthe
1975situationextremelydifficult,ifnotpossible. 3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_provisions_of_the_Constitution_of_India:^"PartXVIIIoftheConstitu
tionofIndia".MinistryofLawandJustice,GovernmentofIndia.Retrieved20March2013.
2
AspectsofConstitutionofIndia-EmergencyProvision-Lawnotes-p90.
IndianConstitutionalLaw-Prof.M.P.Jain,LexisNexis-SixthEd.,p738,para4
3
Page|4
Page|5
NATIONAL
EMERGENCY
4
_________________________________________________________
Article352dealswiththeNationalEmergency.Anemergencyarisingfromthethreattothesecurity
ofthecountryiscalledNationalEmergency.AnationalemergencycanbeproclaimedbythePreside
ntofIndiaeither(i)bywarorexternalaggressionor(ii)byarmedrebellionwithinthecountry.Under
Article352(1),ifthePresidentissatisfiedthatagraveemergencyexistswherebythesecurityofIndia
oranypartthereofisthreatened,whetherbywar,orexternalaggression,orarmedrebellion,hemay
,byproclamation,makeadeclarationtothateffect.Suchaproclamationmaybemadeinrespectofth
ewholeofIndia,orsuchpartoftheIndianTerritoryasmaybespecifiedintheproclamation.
Article352(1)thusmeansthattheproclamationneednotextendtothewholeofIndia.Itmayberestri
ctedtoapartoftheIndianTerritory.AproclamationofemergencyunderArticle352(1)maybemad
ebeforetheactualoccurrenceofwar,externalaggressionorarmedrebellion.AsSupremeCourtex
plainedinthecaseofNaga People’s Movement of Human Rights v. Union
ofIndia
,thattheexpression“internaldisturbance”hasawiderconnotationthan‘armedrebellion’inthesen
sethat“armedrebellion”islikelytoposeathreattothesecurityofthecountry,orapartthereof,while
“internaldisturbance”,thoughseriousinnature,wouldnotposeathreattothe
securityofthecountry,orapartthereof. 5
4 http://lawnotes.in/Emergency_Provisions#National_Emergency#ixzz3UTZSabd
ZAIR1998SC431:(1998)2SCC109.
5
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6
Anexplanationtoart352saysthatitisnotnecessarythatexternalaggressionorarmedrebellionhas
actuallyhappenedtoproclaimemergency.Itcanbeproclaimedevenifthereisapossibilityofsuchth
inghappening.InthecaseofMinerva Mills vs Union of
Indiaheldthatthereisnobartojudicialreviewofthevalidityoftheproclamationofemergencyissue
dbythepresidentunder352(1).
AproclamationissuedunderArticle352(1)maybevariedorrevokedbyasubsequentproclamation
(Article352(2)).
2.1.44th Amendment
Therehadbeenvariouschangesafterthe44 th amendmentinArticle352oftheIndian
Constitution.
Article 352(3)-
7
Accordingtothe44thAmendmentoftheConstitution,thePresidentcandeclaresuchan
emergencyonlyiftheCabinetrecommendsinwritingtodoso.The44 th
Amendmenthas
introducedaclausei.e.Article352(3),totheeffectthatthePresidentshallnotissueaproclamationof
emergency(underArticle352(1)),oraproclamationvaryingthesame,unlessthedecisionoftheUni
onCabineti.e.theCouncilconsistingofthePrimeMinisterandotherMinistersofCabinetrankappo
intedunderArticle75thatsuchaproclamationmaybeissued
6 AIR1980,SC
OtherprovisionsastoMinisters
6
(1) ThePrimeMinistershallbeappointedbythePresidentandtheotherMinistersshallbeappointedbythePresidento
ntheadviceofthePrimeMinister
(2) TheMinistershallholdofficeduringthepleasureofthePresident
(3) TheCouncilofMinistersshallbecollectivelyresponsibletotheHouseofthePeople
Page|7
8
hasbeencommunicatedtohiminwriting.Thismeansthatthedecisiontoissuesuchaproclamationh
astobearrivedatcollectivelybytheCabinetandnotbythePrimeMinisteralonewithoutconsultingt
heCabinet.Itsohappenedin1975thatthePresidentproclaimedemergencyontheadviceofPrimeM
inisteraloneandtheCouncilofMinisterswaslaterpresentedwithafaitaccompli.Itistoavoidanysuc
hsituationinfuturethatArticle352(3)hasbeenintroducedintheConstitution.
Article 352(4)-
TherewasareductionofapprovalofproclamationbytheParliamentbythe44 th amendment.A
proclamationwillautomaticallyceaseafteronemonthifnotapprovedbyParliament.Earlierthep
eriodallowedforparliamentaryapprovaloftheproclamationwastwomonths.
Proviso to Article 352(4)-
Ifatthetimeofissuingproclamation,LokSabhaisdissolvedwithoutapprovingtheproclamation,a
ndRajyaSabhaapprovesit,thentheproclamationceasestooperate30daysafterLokSabhasitsaga
inafterfreshelections,unlessinthemeantimethenewLokSabhapassesaresolutionapprovingthep
roclamation.
Article 352(6)-
Aresolutionapprovingtheproclamationofemergencyhastobepassedbyeachhousebya
majorityofthetotalmembershipofeachhouseandnotlessthan2/3memb rd
ofitsmajorityofthe
erspresentandvotingineachhouse.
8 "accomplishedfact";somethingthathasalreadyhappenedandisthusunlikelytobereversed,adonedeal.
Page|8
th
Article 352(8)-
Therewasanotheramendmenti.e.whereanoticeinwriting,signedbynotlessthan1/10ofthetotalm
embersoftheLokSabhahasbeengiven,oftheirintentiontomovearesolutiondisapprovingtheproc
lamationofemergency,totheSpeakerifthehouseisinsession,ortothepresident,andifthehouseisno
tinsessionthenaspecialsittingofthehouseistobeheldwithin14daysfromthedateonwhichsuchnoti
ceisreceivedbyaspeakerorpresident.
2.2.Invocation of Article 352
NationalEmergencyhasbeendeclaredinourcountrythreetimessofar.
1 . Forthefirsttime,emergencywasdeclaredon26October1962afterChinaattackedourbord
9
ersintheNorthEast.ThisNationalEmergencylastedtill10January1968,longafterthehost
ilitiesceased.
2 . Forthesecondtime,itwasdeclaredon3December1971inthewakeofthesecondIndiaPakista
nWarandwasliftedon21March1977.
3 . Whilethesecondemergency,onthebasisofexternalaggression,wasinoperation,thirdNatio
nalEmergency(calledinternalemergency)wasimposedon25June1975.Thisemergencyw
asdeclaredonthegroundof‘internaldisturbances’.Internaldisturbancesjustifiedimposit
ionoftheemergencydespitethefactthatthegovernmentwasalreadyarmedwiththepowers
providedduringthesecondNationalEmergencyof1971whichwasstillinoperation..
9
http://download.nos.org/srsec317newE/317EL9.pdfhttp://download.nos.org/srsec317newE/317EL9.p
df-PoliticalScience-ConstitutionalNotes-EmergencyProvision
Page|9
STATE
EMERGENCY
_________________________________________________________
Article356andArticle357provideformeetingasituationarisingfromthefailureofthe
ConstitutionalmachineryinaState 10
.
11
ItisthedutyoftheUnionGovernmenttoensurethatgovernanceofaStateiscarriedoninaccordance
withtheprovisionsoftheConstitution.UnderArticle356,thePresidentmayissueaproclamationtoi
mposeemergencyinastateifheissatisfiedonreceiptofareportfromtheGovernoroftheState,oroth
erwise,thatasituationhasarisenunderwhichtheGovernmentoftheStatecannotbecarriedonsmoo
thly.Insuchasituation,proclamationofemergencybythePresidentiscalled‘proclamationonacco
untofthefailure(orbreakdown)ofconstitutionalmachinery.’InpopularlanguageitiscalledthePre
sident’sRule.LikeNationalEmergency,suchaproclamationmustalsobeplacedbeforeboththeHo
usesofParliamentforapproval.Inthiscaseapprovalmustbegivenwithintwomonths;otherwiseth
eproclamationceasestooperate.IfapprovedbytheParliament,theproclamationremainsvalidfor
sixmonthsatatime.Itcanbeextendedforanothersixmonthsbutnotbeyondoneyear.
(ProvisotoArticle356(4)).
However,emergencyinaStatecanbeextendedbeyondoneyearif(a)aNationalEmergencyisalrea
dyinoperation;orif(b)theElectionCommissioncertifiesthattheelectiontotheStateAssemblycan
notbeheld.
ThedeclarationofemergencyduetothebreakdownofConstitutionalmachineryin
aStatehasthefollowingeffects:
(i)ThePresidentcanassumetohimselfalloranyofthefunctionsoftheState
10 ReportofSarkariacommission-1975
11 IndianConstitutionalLaw-Prof.M.P.Jain,LexisNexis-SixthEd.,p762,para7
Page|10
GovernmentorhemayvestalloranyofthosefunctionswiththeGovernororany
otherexecutiveauthority.
(ii)ThePresidentmaydissolvetheStateLegislativeAssemblyorputitundersuspension.He
mayauthorisetheParliamenttomakelawsonbehalfoftheStateLegislature.
(iii)ThePresidentcanmakeanyotherincidentalorconsequentialprovisionnecessaryto
giveeffecttotheobjectofproclamation.
3.1.Case laws:
StateofRajasthanv.India 12
AconstitutionalcontroversyofgreatsignificanceinArticle356wasraisedinthiscase.Whenthegen
eralelectionforLokSabhawereheldinthecountryin1977,aftertheliftingoftheemergencyof1975,t
heCongressPartywasbadlyroutedinseveralsatatesbytheJanataPartywhichwonalargenumber
ofseatsintheLokSabhaandthus,formedthegovernmentattheCentre.Inthesestates,congressmini
strieswerefunctioningatthetimeandtheystillhadsomemoretimetorunoutforcompletionoftheful
lterm.Therehavebeenmanycasesofmisuseof‘constitutionalbreakdown’.Forexample,in1977wh
enJanataPartycameintopowerattheCentre,theCongressPartywasalmostwipedoutinNorthInd
ianStates.Onthisexcuse,DesaiGovernmentattheCentredismissednineStategovernmentswhere
Congresswasstillinpower.ThisactionofMorarjiDesai’sJanataGovernmentwasstronglycriticiz
edbytheCongressandothers.ThesuitwasdesignedtoforetelltheinvocationofArticle356intheseve
ralStates.TheSupremeCourthowever,dismissedthesuitunanimously.Theboardpositionadopte
dbytheCourtwasthatitcouldnotinterferewiththeCentre’sexerciseofpowerunderArticle356mer
elyonthegroundthatitembraced‘politicalandexecutivepolicyandexpediencyunlesssomeconstit
utionalprovisionwasbeinginfringed.”
12 AIR1977SC1361:(1997)2SCC592.
13
Page|11
S.R.Bommaiv.India
TheSupremeCourtgavealandmarkdecisioninthiscase.Thefactsofthecaseare-
in1989,theJanataDalMinistryheadedbyShriSRBommaiwasinofficeinKarnataka.Anumberof
membersdefectedfromthepartyandthereaquestionmarkonthemajoritysupportinthehousefor
Bommai’sministry.TheChiefMinisterproposedtothegovernorthattheAssemblySessionbecalle
dtotestthestrengthoftheministryonthefloorofthehouse.Butthegovernorignoredthissuggestion.
HealsodidnotexplorethepossibilityofanalternativegovernmentbutreportedtoPresidentthatasS
hriBommaihadlostthemajoritysupportinthehouseandasnootherpartywasinthepositiontoform
thegovernment,actionbetakenArticle356(1).Accordingly,thepresidentissuedtheproclamationi
nApril1989.
BommaichallengedthevalidityoftheproclamationbeforetheKarnatakahighcourtthroughwrit
petitiononvariousgrounds.Thehighcourtruledthattheproclamationissuedunderarticle356(1)is
notwhollyoutsidethepoleofjudicialscrutiny.TheSatisfactionofthepresidentarticle356(1)whichi
saconditionpresentforissueoftheproclamationoughttoberealandgenuinesatisfactionbasedonre
levantfactsandcircumstances.
BommaiappealedtotheSupremecourtagainstthehighcourtdecision.TheSupremeCourtwasalso
calledupontodecidethevalidityofsimilarproclamationunder356(1)inthestatesofMeghalayaand
Nagalandandthusdeclareditunconstitutional.
TheSupremeCourtheldintheBommaicasethattheAssemblymaynotbedissolvedtilltheProclam
ationisapprovedbytheParliament.OnafewoccasionssuchaswhenGujralGovernmentrecomme
ndeduseofArticle356inUttarPradesh,thePresidentreturnedtherecommendationforreconsider
ation.TheUnionGovernmenttookthehintanddroppedtheproposal.
13 AIR1994SC1918:(1994)3SCC1
Page|12
FINANCIAL
EMERGENCY
TheFinancialEmergencyprovidedunderArticle360.ItprovidesthatifthePresidentissatisfiedtha
tthefinancialstabilityorcreditofIndiaoranyofitspartisindanger,hemaydeclareastateofFinancia
lEmergency.Liketheothertwotypesofemergencies,ithasalsotobeapprovedbytheParliament.It
mustbeapprovedbybothHousesofParliamentwithintwomonths.FinancialEmergencycanoper
ateaslongasthesituationdemandsandmayberevokedbyasubsequentproclamation.Sofar,fortun
ately,financialemergencyhasneverbeenproclaimed
TheproclamationofFinancialEmergencymayhavethefollowingconsequences:
(a)TheUnionGovernmentmaygivedirectiontoanyoftheStatesregardingfinancialm
atters.
(a) ThePresidentmayasktheStatestoreducethesalariesandallowancesofalloranyclas
sofpersonsingovernmentservice.
(b) ThePresidentmayasktheStatestoreserveallthemoneybillsfortheconsiderationoft
heParliamentaftertheyhavebeenpassedbytheStateLegislature.
ThePresidentmayalsogivedirectionsforthereductionofsalariesandallowancesoftheC
entralGovernmentemployeesincludingtheJudgesoftheSupremeCourt
andtheHighCourts.
14
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ofIndia/Part18-Wikisource,thefreeonlinelibrary-Financialemergency.
