BPSC 70th CCE Re-exam Prelims General Studies · Question 28 of 142

Correct — B, Article 352. Article 352 is headed 'Proclamation of Emergency' — the marginal heading is itself the answer — and it empowers the President to declare a National Emergency if satisfied that a grave emergency exists whereby the security of India or of any part of it is threatened by war, external aggression or armed rebellion. Three of its features are examined constantly. First, the ground: 'internal disturbance' was the original third ground, and the Forty-fourth Amendment of 1978 replaced it with 'armed rebellion' precisely because the 1975 Emergency had been proclaimed on internal disturbance. Second, the safeguard: since the same amendment the President may act only on the WRITTEN recommendation of the Union Cabinet, not on the Prime Minister's advice alone. Third, the parliamentary check: the proclamation must be approved by both Houses within one month by a special majority — a majority of the total membership of each House and two-thirds of those present and voting — after which it runs for six months and may be extended six months at a time indefinitely, and it must be revoked if the Lok Sabha passes a resolution disapproving it. While it operates, Article 353 lets the Union direct any State on any matter and Parliament legislate on State subjects, Article 358 automatically suspends the six freedoms of Article 19 when the emergency is on the ground of war or external aggression, and Article 359 lets the President suspend the enforcement of other fundamental rights — though the Forty-fourth Amendment put Articles 20 and 21 permanently beyond that reach. India has proclaimed a National Emergency three times: 1962 during the Chinese aggression, 1971 during the war with Pakistan, and 1975 on the ground of internal disturbance. The other three Articles offered are all real and all deal with something else.

• (a)Article 356 — The commonest wrong answer, because it is popularly called State Emergency. Its own heading is 'Provisions in case of failure of constitutional machinery in States' — President's Rule — under which the State executive is taken over by the Union and the State Assembly is suspended or dissolved. It is a different proclamation, on different grounds, with a different approval requirement, and the Constitution nowhere calls it an Emergency.
• (c)Article 365 — The enabling clause rather than the proclamation. Article 365 says that where a State fails to comply with a direction given by the Union, the President MAY hold that a situation has arisen in which the government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the Constitution — which is a doorway into Article 356. It proclaims nothing itself, and it is the subtlest of the four options.
• (d)Article 360 — Financial Emergency, proclaimed where the financial stability or credit of India or any part of it is threatened. It has never been used. Under it the President may direct the reduction of salaries of persons serving the Union or the States, including judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, and may require State money and financial bills to be reserved for his consideration.

Part XVIII of the Constitution provides three distinct emergencies and confusing them is the single most common error in this chapter. NATIONAL EMERGENCY under Article 352 is proclaimed on war, external aggression or armed rebellion; it converts the federal structure into a practically unitary one and can suspend fundamental rights. PRESIDENT'S RULE under Article 356 is proclaimed on the failure of constitutional machinery in a State; the State executive passes to the Union and the Assembly is suspended or dissolved, but fundamental rights are untouched. FINANCIAL EMERGENCY under Article 360 is proclaimed on a threat to financial stability or credit and has never been invoked. The whole chapter was borrowed in structure from the Government of India Act 1935 and from the Weimar Constitution's emergency provisions, and it was the experience of 1975 to 1977 that produced the Forty-fourth Amendment's safeguards — written Cabinet recommendation, 'armed rebellion' instead of 'internal disturbance', special majority for approval, six-month renewals instead of indefinite operation, and the permanent protection of Articles 20 and 21.

The reliable way through Article-number questions is to attach a phrase, not a number, to each Article and then read the stem for that phrase. 'Proclamation of Emergency' is 352. 'Failure of constitutional machinery in States' is 356. 'Financial Emergency' is 360. 'Failure to comply with directions' is 365. This stem says 'proclamation of Emergency' without qualification, which points to 352, and a candidate who has the headings does not need to reason at all. Where the stem is ambiguous — as it would be if it said 'emergency in a State' — the qualifier decides. It is also worth keeping the approval arithmetic apart, because both commissions test it: an Article 352 proclamation needs a SPECIAL majority in both Houses within one month, while an Article 356 proclamation needs only a simple majority within two months and may run for a maximum of three years subject to conditions. Note finally what President's Rule does not automatically do — it does not necessarily dissolve the Assembly, which may merely be kept in suspended animation, and it does not touch local bodies at all.

• Article 352 is headed 'Proclamation of Emergency' and covers war, external aggression or armed rebellion; the Forty-fourth Amendment of 1978 replaced the original ground of 'internal disturbance' with 'armed rebellion'.
• Since the Forty-fourth Amendment the President may proclaim a National Emergency only on the written recommendation of the Union Cabinet; the proclamation must be approved by both Houses within one month by a special majority and thereafter runs six months at a time.
• National Emergency has been proclaimed three times — 1962 (Chinese aggression), 1971 (war with Pakistan) and 1975 (internal disturbance).
• Article 356 is 'Provisions in case of failure of constitutional machinery in States' (President's Rule); Article 360 is Financial Emergency and has never been used; Article 365 lets the President hold that a State's machinery has failed when it ignores a Union direction.
• During a National Emergency, Article 358 automatically suspends Article 19's freedoms if the ground is war or external aggression, and Article 359 allows suspension of the enforcement of other fundamental rights — but Articles 20 and 21 can never be suspended.

• Answering 356 because President's Rule is popularly called State Emergency. The Constitution does not call it an emergency, and its heading is about failure of constitutional machinery.
• Mistaking Article 365 for a proclamation power. It only supplies a ground on which the President may act under Article 356.
• Confusing the approval requirements. Article 352 needs a special majority within one month; Article 356 needs a simple majority within two months.

BPSC asks polity by Article number and expects instant recall — which Article deals with what, sometimes with three neighbouring numbers as distractors, as here. UPSC has almost stopped asking bare numbers and instead tests the consequences: what a proclamation actually does to the Lok Sabha's term, which rights survive it, what is and is not an automatic effect of President's Rule.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which fundamental rights can never be suspended even during the operation of a National Emergency ?

  • (a)Articles 14 and 19
  • (b)Articles 20 and 21
  • (c)Articles 25 and 26
  • (d)Articles 29 and 30

  Answer(b) Articles 20 and 21 — protection in respect of conviction for offences, and protection of life and personal liberty. The Forty-fourth Amendment of 1978 placed them permanently outside the reach of Article 359.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  A proclamation of National Emergency under Article 352 must be approved by both Houses of Parliament within

  • (a)One month, by a special majority
  • (b)Two months, by a simple majority
  • (c)Six months, by a special majority
  • (d)Three months, by a simple majority

  Answer(a) One month, by a special majority — a majority of the total membership of each House and two-thirds of the members present and voting. The two-month, simple-majority rule belongs to Article 356.