General Knowledge / State EmergencyIt refers to a period of governance under an altered constitutional setup that can be proclaimed by the President of India, when he/she perceives grave threats to the nation from internal and external sources / from financial situations of crisis. Under the advice of the cabinet of ministers and using the powers vested in him/her largely by Part XVIII of the Constitution of India, the President can overrule many provisions of the constitution, which guarantee fundamental rights to the citizens of India and acts governing devolution of powers to the states which form the federation. In the history of independent India, a state of emergency has been declared thrice.The first instance was between 26 October 1962 to 10 January 1968 during the India-China war, when "the security of India" was declared as being "threatened by external aggression". The second instance was between 3 December 1971 to 21 March 1977, which was originally proclaimed during the Indo-Pakistan war. It was later extended along with the third proclamation between 25 June 1975 to 21 March 1977 under controversial circumstances of political instability under Indira Gandhi's prime ministership, when emergency was declared on the basis of "internal disturbance", but this term was too vague and had a wider connotation and hence 44th amendment act 1978 substituted the words "internal disturbance" for "armed rebellion" ". The phrase Emergency period used loosely, when referring to the political history of India, often refers to the third and the most controversial of the three occasions. The President can declare three types of emergencies
State emergency also called as President Rule, under Article 356 A state of emergency can be declared in any state of India (except a special case in Jammu and Kashmir) under article 356 on the recommendation of the governor of the state. Every state in India except two states, Chhattisgarh and Telangana has been under a state of emergency at some point of time or the other. The state of emergency is commonly known as 'President's Rule'. If the President is satisfied, based on the report of the Governor of the concerned state or from other sources, that the governance in a state cannot be carried out according to the provisions in the Constitution, he may declare an emergency in the state. Such an emergency must be approved by the Parliament within a period of two months. It is imposed for an initial period of six months and can last for a maximum period of three years with repeated parliamentary approval every six months. In case of Jammu & Kashmir, first there should be a Governor's rule for 6 months (under section 92 of Jammu & Kashmir constitution) then only President rule can follow. The 42nd amendment act of 1976 extended the initial time duration of state emergency from 6 months to 1 year. Subsequently, 44th CAA 1978 restored the 1-year period back to 6 months. Originally, the maximum period of operation of state emergency was 3 years. This 3-year period was divided into 1 year of ordinary period and 2 years of extra ordinary period for which certain conditions are to be fulfilled. Therefore, from now on after every 1 year Parliament needs to approve the same. If the emergency has to be extended for more than three years, it can only be done by a constitutional amendment, as has happened in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. During such an emergency, the President can take over the entire work of the executive, and the Governor administers the state in the name of the President. The Legislative Assembly can be dissolved or may remain in suspended animation. The Parliament makes laws on the 66 subjects of the state list (see National emergency for explanation). All money bills have to be referred to the Parliament for approval. In this occasion ministers of state legislature do not perform actions in state. Home Back |