Emergency provisions

1. Constitutional framework and federal significance

Emergency provisions allow the Union to respond to exceptional crises without formally replacing the Constitution. Article 352 addresses war, external aggression and armed rebellion; Article 356 addresses failure of constitutional machinery in a State; and Article 360 addresses threats to the financial stability or credit of India or any part of its territory. These grounds are not interchangeable. Political disagreement with a State government, ordinary administrative weakness or a difficult fiscal position does not automatically justify emergency action.

Article 355 requires the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that State government is carried on according to the Constitution. Internal disturbance remains in Article 355, but the 44th Amendment replaced it with the narrower expression armed rebellion in Article 352. Thus, unrest may attract Union assistance without meeting the threshold for a National Emergency.

Emergency powers temporarily alter the federal balance, but do not extinguish constitutional limitations. A National Emergency enlarges Union legislative and executive authority; President’s Rule may replace a State’s political executive; a Financial Emergency permits binding fiscal directions. Federalism is part of the Constitution’s basic structure. Judicial review and parliamentary control therefore remain essential checks on misuse.

• Article 365 permits the President to conclude that constitutional government has failed when a State does not comply with constitutionally authorised Union directions; President’s Rule is not automatic.
• For examination purposes, distinguish the constitutional ground, approval procedure, duration, institutional consequences and rights consequences of each mechanism.

2. National Emergency: proclamation and parliamentary safeguards

Under Article 352, the President may proclaim an Emergency when the security of India or any part of its territory is threatened by war, external aggression or armed rebellion. A proclamation may cover the whole country or a specified part. It may also precede the actual occurrence of the threat if the President is satisfied that there is imminent danger. The Union Cabinet’s decision must be communicated in writing.

Both Houses of Parliament must approve the proclamation within one month. Approval requires, in each House, a majority of its total membership and at least two-thirds of members present and voting. Once approved, it continues for six months and can be renewed repeatedly through resolutions passed by the same special majority. There is no fixed maximum duration. If the Lok Sabha is dissolved, the Constitution provides a temporary arrangement involving Rajya Sabha approval and approval by the reconstituted Lok Sabha within thirty days of its first sitting.

The President may revoke the proclamation without parliamentary approval and must revoke it if the Lok Sabha passes a resolution disapproving its continuation. At least one-tenth of the Lok Sabha’s total membership can give notice seeking a special sitting to consider disapproval; the sitting must be held within fourteen days. These safeguards were strengthened by the 44th Amendment after the experience of the 1975–1977 Emergency.

• The disapproval resolution in the Lok Sabha requires an ordinary majority, unlike the special majority required for approval and renewal.
• The 38th Amendment attempted to exclude judicial review of presidential satisfaction; the 44th Amendment removed that exclusion.

3. National Emergency: federal changes and Fundamental Rights

Article 353 extends Union executive power to giving directions to States about the exercise of their executive authority. Parliament also acquires power to legislate on State List matters under Article 250. State governments and legislatures do not automatically disappear: their continued existence distinguishes Article 352 from President’s Rule. Emergency-based parliamentary laws cease to have effect six months after the Emergency ends, to the extent Parliament would otherwise lack competence, while preserving earlier acts.

Article 354 permits temporary modification of the operation of constitutional provisions governing distribution of revenues. Such arrangements cannot extend beyond the financial year in which the Emergency ends. Parliament may also extend the normal duration of the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies by one year at a time, but not beyond six months after the Emergency ceases.

Article 358 automatically removes Article 19 restrictions on qualifying State action only during an Emergency based on war or external aggression, not armed rebellion. After the 44th Amendment, the protection is limited to laws containing a recital connecting them with the Emergency and executive action under such laws. Article 359, by contrast, requires a presidential order suspending the right to move courts to enforce specified Fundamental Rights and pending enforcement proceedings. It does not operate automatically or suspend every right.

Articles 20 and 21 are expressly protected from Article 359 orders. In ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla, 1976, the Supreme Court majority denied habeas corpus relief in the prevailing Emergency context. That approach was expressly repudiated in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, 2017.

• A common trap is to treat Article 358 and Article 359 as identical: they differ in trigger, rights covered and mode of operation.

4. President’s Rule: limits on Union intervention

Article 356 allows the President, on receiving a Governor’s report or otherwise, to act when State government cannot be carried on according to the Constitution. The President may assume State executive functions and declare that the State Legislature’s powers will be exercisable by or under Parliament’s authority. High Court powers cannot be assumed, nor can constitutional provisions relating to High Courts be suspended. Fundamental Rights are not automatically suspended.

Both Houses must approve the proclamation within two months by an ordinary majority. Once approved, it normally continues for six months and can be renewed, subject to a three-year maximum. Continuation beyond one year requires two cumulative conditions: a National Emergency must be operating in the whole of India or in the whole or part of the State, and the Election Commission must certify difficulties in holding Assembly elections. Dissolution of the Lok Sabha attracts a special approval arrangement.

In S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, 1994, the Supreme Court affirmed judicial review of Article 356 proclamations. Legislative majority should ordinarily be tested on the Assembly floor. Courts may restore a dismissed government and Assembly if the proclamation is unconstitutional. Irreversible dissolution should not precede parliamentary approval. The Sarkaria Commission recommended using Article 356 sparingly and as a last resort; the Punchhi Commission also favoured calibrated intervention rather than sweeping displacement of State institutions.

• Parliament may confer the State Legislature’s lawmaking power on the President under Article 357.
• Unlike Article 250 laws, laws made during President’s Rule continue until altered, repealed or amended by a competent legislature or authority.

5. Financial Emergency and examination approach

Under Article 360, the President may proclaim a Financial Emergency if satisfied that the financial stability or credit of India or any part of its territory is threatened. Parliamentary approval is required within two months by an ordinary majority. Once approved, it continues until revoked: there is neither a six-month renewal requirement nor a specified maximum duration. Special provisions apply when the Lok Sabha is dissolved.

The Union may direct States to observe specified canons of financial propriety. Directions may require reductions in salaries and allowances of persons serving a State and reservation of Money Bills and other bills covered by Article 207 for presidential consideration after passage by the State Legislature. The President may also direct salary reductions for Union personnel, including Supreme Court and High Court judges.

Financial Emergency does not automatically dissolve State governments or suspend Fundamental Rights. India has never used Article 360, including during the 1991 balance-of-payments crisis. In solving questions, avoid assuming that all emergencies share the same approval majority, renewal interval or consequences. Article 352 needs a special majority and periodic renewal; Articles 356 and 360 require ordinary majorities, but only Article 356 has regular six-month renewal and a general three-year ceiling.

• Evaluate emergency powers through necessity, constitutional procedure, proportionality, legislative oversight and judicial review.

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