Emergency — Set 5

Correct Answer: A. Simple Majority

• **Simple Majority** = the type of majority required in Parliament to approve a Financial Emergency under Article 360; this means majority of members present and voting, which is easier to achieve than special majority. • **Contrast with National Emergency** — National Emergency (Article 352) requires special majority (majority of total membership + 2/3 present and voting); Financial Emergency requires only simple majority, reflecting its lower procedural bar. • 💡 Option B (Absolute Majority) is wrong — absolute majority (majority of total membership) is used for removing the Vice-President and other specific purposes; it is not the threshold for Financial Emergency. Option C (2/3rd Majority) is wrong — two-thirds majority alone (without the total membership requirement) is used in joint sittings of Parliament; it is not the Financial Emergency approval threshold. Option D (Special Majority) is wrong — special majority (majority of total membership + 2/3 present and voting) is required for National Emergency (Article 352), not Financial Emergency (Article 360).

Correct Answer: D. Governor

• **Governor** = the constitutional authority whose report typically forms the basis for the President to impose President's Rule under Article 356; the Governor reports that the constitutional machinery in the state has broken down. • **'Otherwise' clause** — the Constitution also allows the President to impose President's Rule 'otherwise' (without a Governor's report) if the President is otherwise satisfied; this clause has been controversial and was restricted by the SR Bommai case (1994). • 💡 Option A (High Court Judge) is wrong — a High Court judge has no constitutional role in recommending President's Rule; the judiciary reviews emergency impositions but does not initiate them. Option B (Speaker) is wrong — the Speaker of the State Assembly presides over legislative proceedings; the Speaker has no role in reporting to the President about state constitutional breakdown. Option C (Chief Minister) is wrong — the Chief Minister is the head of the state government; a CM would have no incentive to report the breakdown of their own government; the Governor is the Centre's representative who files such reports.

Correct Answer: D. Parliament

• **Parliament** = the body that must approve any emergency proclamation for it to continue beyond the initial period; the President issues the proclamation but Parliament (both Houses) ratifies it by the required majority within the stipulated time. • **Approval deadlines** — National Emergency must be approved within 1 month (special majority); President's Rule within 2 months (simple majority); Financial Emergency within 2 months (simple majority) — all by Parliament. • 💡 Option A (President) is wrong — the President proclaims the emergency and can revoke it, but parliamentary approval (not Presidential re-authorization) is what allows it to continue beyond the initial period. Option B (Prime Minister) is wrong — the PM leads the Cabinet that recommends the emergency, but it is Parliament collectively that approves continuation; no PM can unilaterally continue an emergency. Option C (Supreme Court) is wrong — the Supreme Court can review whether an emergency was validly proclaimed, but it does not approve the continuation of an emergency; that is Parliament's role.

Correct Answer: C. Union Government

• **Union Government (Centre)** = the entity whose directions a state must comply with; under Article 365, if a state fails to comply with or give effect to directions issued by the Union Government, the President can deem the state's constitutional machinery to have failed. • **Centre → state directions** — the Union Executive has the authority to issue directions to states on various Centre-state matters; non-compliance is a constitutional basis for President's Rule under Article 356 via Article 365. • 💡 Option A (Supreme Court) is wrong — the Supreme Court's directions must be complied with by all parties including states, but non-compliance with Supreme Court orders triggers contempt of court, not Article 365/Article 356 President's Rule. Option B (High Court) is wrong — High Court directions similarly attract contempt proceedings, not emergency provisions; Article 365 specifically covers Union Government (Executive) directions only. Option D (State Governor) is wrong — the Governor is the Centre's representative in the state; a state cannot 'fail to comply with' the Governor's directions in the Article 365 sense since the Governor is part of the state's constitutional machinery.

Correct Answer: D. Financial Emergency

• **Financial Emergency (Article 360)** = the only emergency during which the President can direct states to reserve all Money Bills and other financial Bills for the President's consideration before they become law. • **Financial discipline** — this power allows the President to scrutinize and potentially withhold state financial legislation during a financial crisis, ensuring nationwide fiscal coordination; it severely curtails state financial autonomy. • 💡 Option A (National Emergency) is wrong — National Emergency under Article 352 gives Parliament power to legislate on State List subjects but does not include a provision for the President to call for state Money Bills. Option B (State Emergency) is wrong — President's Rule (Article 356) means the Centre directly takes over state administration; state legislature is either suspended or dissolved, making 'reserving Money Bills' irrelevant in that context. Option C (Disaster Management) is wrong — Disaster Management is handled under the Disaster Management Act 2005, not under the constitutional emergency provisions; it has no such article-based power.

Correct Answer: A. Unitary

• **Unitary** = the form of government that India's federal Constitution effectively transforms into during a National Emergency; the Centre gains overwhelming power including the right to issue directions to states on any subject, including State List matters. • **States not abolished** — during National Emergency, states continue to exist (unlike President's Rule where state machinery is taken over); they function but under effective central direction and oversight, making it functionally unitary. • 💡 Option B (Anarchy) is wrong — National Emergency establishes stronger central control, not the absence of government; anarchy means lawlessness which is precisely what emergency aims to prevent. Option C (Confederate) is wrong — a confederation is a union of sovereign states with weak central authority; National Emergency does the opposite by massively centralizing power. Option D (Monarchy) is wrong — monarchy refers to rule by a hereditary king; India's emergency provisions centralise democratic authority in Parliament and the Centre, not in a monarch.

Correct Answer: C. Article 356

• **Article 356** = the provision at the centre of the SR Bommai case (1994); the Supreme Court gave a 9-judge bench ruling that laid down strict guidelines against arbitrary dismissal of state governments under President's Rule. • **Key SR Bommai rulings** — (1) federalism is part of the basic structure of the Constitution; (2) the President can impose Article 356 only after allowing the state government to prove majority on the floor of the House; (3) imposition is subject to judicial review. • 💡 Option A (Article 32) is wrong — Article 32 (right to constitutional remedies) was the subject of cases like Romesh Thappar and the ADM Jabalpur case; SR Bommai specifically addressed President's Rule under Article 356. Option B (Article 21) is wrong — Article 21 (right to life) was central to Maneka Gandhi (1978) and ADM Jabalpur (1976) cases; the SR Bommai case dealt with federalism and Article 356. Option D (Article 370) is wrong — Article 370 (special status of J&K, abrogated in 2019) was not the subject of the SR Bommai judgment; that case was specifically about President's Rule.

Correct Answer: A. 38th Amendment

• **38th Amendment (1975)** = the amendment that made National Emergency proclamations non-justiciable (non-reviewable by courts) by declaring that the President's satisfaction was final and conclusive — enacted during the 1975 emergency itself. • **44th Amendment (1978)** — deleted the 38th Amendment's non-justiciability clause, restoring courts' power to review emergency proclamations for malafide or irrelevant grounds; the Minerva Mills (1980) case confirmed this. • 💡 Option B (1st Amendment) is wrong — the 1st Amendment (1951) dealt with freedom of speech restrictions and zamindari abolition; it had nothing to do with emergency judicial review. Option C (42nd Amendment) is wrong — the 42nd Amendment (1976) made several changes during the Emergency era but it was the 38th Amendment (1975) specifically that barred judicial review of emergency proclamations. Option D (44th Amendment) is wrong — the 44th Amendment restored judicial review; the question asks which amendment barred it, which was the 38th Amendment.

Correct Answer: B. 42nd Amendment

• **42nd Amendment (1976)** = the amendment that enabled the President to proclaim a National Emergency with respect to a specific part (territory) of India, rather than applying it to the whole country; this added geographical flexibility to Article 352. • **Passed during 1975 Emergency** — the 42nd Amendment was enacted during Indira Gandhi's 1975 emergency; it was one of several changes made to the Constitution during that period, many of which the 44th Amendment later reversed. • 💡 Option A (73rd Amendment) is wrong — the 73rd Amendment (1992) dealt with Panchayati Raj institutions (Article 243); it had no connection to National Emergency provisions. Option C (52nd Amendment) is wrong — the 52nd Amendment (1985) introduced the anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule); it did not modify National Emergency application. Option D (44th Amendment) is wrong — the 44th Amendment (1978) introduced many safeguards against emergency misuse (written Cabinet recommendation, special majority, non-suspendability of Articles 20 and 21) but it was the 42nd Amendment that first allowed part-country emergency.

Correct Answer: D. 6 months

• **6 Months** = the interval at which Parliament must re-approve the continuation of President's Rule by simple majority; without fresh parliamentary approval every 6 months, President's Rule automatically ceases. • **Maximum 3 years** — the 6-month renewal cycle can continue up to a maximum total of 3 years; extensions beyond 1 year require either a National Emergency operating in that state or an Election Commission certification that elections cannot be held. • 💡 Option A (3 months) is wrong — President's Rule requires parliamentary renewal every 6 months, not every 3 months; 3-monthly approval would be an unworkable burden on Parliament. Option B (12 months) is wrong — 12-month intervals would allow President's Rule to operate for a year without parliamentary oversight; the Constitution requires more frequent 6-month approvals. Option C (1 month) is wrong — 1 month is the approval window for National Emergency (Article 352), not the renewal interval for President's Rule (Article 356) which operates on 6-month cycles.