Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other as Reason (R). Assertion (A) : Article 352 of the Indian Constitution deals with the declaration of an emergency. Reason (R) : An emergency may take place at any time. Select the correct answer from the codes given below :
- (a)Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
- (b)(A) is false, but (R) is true.
- (c)Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
- (d)(A) is true, but (R) is false.
Correct — A, both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A). Take the two halves separately, which is the only way an Assertion-Reason item is ever solved. (A) is true on the face of the Constitution: Article 352 is headed 'Proclamation of Emergency' and is the opening Article of Part XVIII, the emergency provisions (Articles 352 to 360). It empowers the President, if satisfied that a grave emergency exists whereby the security of India or of any part of its territory is threatened by war, external aggression or armed rebellion, to make a Proclamation to that effect. One refinement worth carrying into the hall: Article 352 deals with one species of emergency, the National Emergency; President's Rule in a State is Article 356 and Financial Emergency is Article 360. Because the Assertion says only 'the declaration of an emergency' and does not claim to cover all three, it stands as true. (R) is also true, and the Constitution itself assumes it. Nothing in Article 352 ties a Proclamation to a season, a session of Parliament or any prior formality, and the proviso to Article 352(1) goes further: the President may issue a Proclamation even before the actual occurrence of war, external aggression or armed rebellion, if he is satisfied that there is imminent danger of it. An emergency can therefore arise, and be declared, at any time. What fails is the link between the two. (A) is a statement about the content of a constitutional provision — what Article 352 says. (R) is a statement about the nature of emergencies in the world. The unpredictability of an emergency may explain why the framers wanted a standing emergency power at all, but it does not explain why that power is located in Article 352, and it supplies no reason for the fact that (A) asserts. Two true sentences sitting next to each other are not an explanation, and that gap is the whole distance between option (a) and option (c).
- (b)(A) is false, but (R) is true. — (A) is not false. Article 352 of the Constitution is literally titled 'Proclamation of Emergency' and is the provision under which every National Emergency in Indian history has been declared — 1962 during the Chinese aggression, 1971 during the Indo-Pak war, and 1975 on the ground of internal disturbance. Reading (A) as false would require the Assertion to have claimed something Article 352 does not do; it claims only that the Article deals with the declaration of an emergency, which is exactly its subject.
- (c)Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A). — This is the trap option, and the one most candidates lose the mark to, because both statements really are true and both use the word 'emergency'. Shared vocabulary is not explanatory force. To be the correct explanation, (R) would have to answer the question 'why is it the case that Article 352 deals with the declaration of an emergency?' — and 'because an emergency may take place at any time' does not answer it. At best it explains why a constitution should contain some emergency power somewhere; it says nothing about Article 352 in particular, and the Assertion is a claim about that Article's content, not about the wisdom of having such a power.
- (d)(A) is true, but (R) is false. — (R) is not false. There is no constitutional restriction confining a Proclamation of Emergency to a particular occasion or moment; on the contrary, the proviso to Article 352(1) expressly allows a Proclamation to be issued in anticipation, when the President is satisfied that there is imminent danger of war, external aggression or armed rebellion. Candidates sometimes mark (d) because they read (R) as sloppy or unexaminable, but a loosely worded statement that is nonetheless correct must be treated as true.
Part XVIII of the Constitution (Articles 352 to 360) contains three distinct emergencies, and almost every question in this area rewards keeping them apart. Article 352 is the National Emergency, proclaimed by the President on the ground of war, external aggression or armed rebellion, and it operates on the whole country or any part of it. Article 356 is President's Rule, imposed when the government of a State cannot be carried on in accordance with the Constitution. Article 360 is Financial Emergency, available when the financial stability or credit of India is threatened; it has never been used. All three are declared by the President, but the grounds, the effects and the parliamentary approval requirements differ.
The reasoning for an Assertion-Reason item runs in three steps, never two. First, is (A) true on its own? Second, is (R) true on its own? Third — and this is where the marks are actually decided — does (R) explain (A), or does it merely sit beside it? Here the first two answers are yes and yes, so the field narrows immediately to (a) and (c). The third step decides it: (A) reports the subject matter of a specific Article; (R) makes a general observation about how emergencies behave. The general observation is a reason for having emergency provisions in a constitution, not a reason for Article 352 saying what it says. Whenever an Assertion states a plain constitutional fact and the Reason states a real-world generality, suspect option (a). The commission uses this exact construction repeatedly.
- Article 352 permits a Proclamation of Emergency on three grounds — war, external aggression or armed rebellion. 'Internal disturbance' was the original third ground; the 44th Amendment Act, 1978 replaced it with the narrower 'armed rebellion' after the 1975 experience.
- After the 44th Amendment the President may issue the Proclamation only on the written recommendation of the Union Cabinet, and it must be approved by both Houses of Parliament by a special majority within one month (the pre-1978 period was two months). Once approved it runs for six months and may be extended six months at a time indefinitely with fresh approval.
- The proviso to Article 352(1) allows a Proclamation to be made even before war, external aggression or armed rebellion actually occurs, if the President is satisfied that there is imminent danger of it — which is why the Reason in this question is true.
- The 44th Amendment also gave the Lok Sabha a power of disapproval: if one-tenth of its members give notice, a special sitting must be held within fourteen days, and a simple-majority resolution there revokes the Proclamation.
- A National Emergency has been proclaimed three times — October 1962 (Chinese aggression), December 1971 (Indo-Pak war) and June 1975 (internal disturbance). Article 83(2) lets Parliament extend the life of the Lok Sabha by one year at a time while such a Proclamation is in force, and not beyond six months after it ceases.
The Assertion is about the highlighted row — Article 352 is indeed the Article that deals with declaring an emergency, so (A) is true. The Reason, that an emergency may arise at any time, is also true, but it explains nothing about what Article 352 contains. Hence the key: (a).
- Treating 'Emergency' as a single idea. Three separate Articles, three separate grounds, and two different approval majorities — 352 needs a special majority, 356 and 360 need only a simple majority.
- In Assertion-Reason items, jumping to 'both true, R explains A' the moment both statements are true. Always ask the third question: does the Reason answer 'why' for the Assertion?
- Forgetting the 44th Amendment changes — a Proclamation now lapses in one month, not two, and 'internal disturbance' is no longer a ground.
UPPSC leans heavily on the Assertion-Reason format for polity and typically pairs a plainly true constitutional statement with a vague generality, so the whole item turns on the explanatory link. UPSC prefers consequence-based framing — 'if the President exercises his power under Article 356, then...' — or statement-based items on approval periods and majorities.
The term of the Lok Sabha
- (a) cannot be extended under any circumstances
- (b) can be extended by six months at a time
- (c) can be extended by one year at a time during the proclamation of emergency
- (d) can be extended for two years at a time during the proclamation of emergency
Answer(c) can be extended by one year at a time during the proclamation of emergency
The same Article seen through its consequences — Article 83(2) permits the life of the Lok Sabha to be extended by one year at a time only while a Proclamation of Emergency under Article 352 is in operation, which is the clearest illustration of how far a National Emergency reaches.
Which of the following is/are the exclusive power(s) of Lok Sabha? 1. To ratify the declaration of Emergency 2. To pass a motion of no-confidence against the Council of Ministers 3. To impeach the President of India Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a) 1 and 2
- (b) 2 only
- (c) 1 and 3
- (d) 3 only
Answer(b) 2 only
Tests the approval side of Article 352 — ratifying a Proclamation of Emergency is not an exclusive power of the Lok Sabha, because both Houses must approve it, which is the procedural half of the Article this Assertion describes.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which Constitutional Amendment Act substituted 'armed rebellion' for 'internal disturbance' as a ground for proclaiming a National Emergency?
- (a)38th Amendment Act, 1975
- (b)42nd Amendment Act, 1976
- (c)44th Amendment Act, 1978
- (d)52nd Amendment Act, 1985
Answer(c) 44th Amendment Act, 1978 — enacted after the 1975 Emergency, it narrowed the third ground to 'armed rebellion', required the Union Cabinet's written recommendation, and cut the parliamentary approval period from two months to one.
- practice — not a real PYQ
A Proclamation of Emergency issued under Article 352 must be approved by both Houses of Parliament within
- (a)one month
- (b)two months
- (c)three months
- (d)six months
Answer(a) one month — the 44th Amendment Act, 1978 reduced the period from two months to one, and the approval must be by a special majority; once approved the Proclamation runs for six months at a time.