National Emergency in India

A state of emergency in India 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 or from fnancial
situations of crisis. In the history of independent India, there were
three periods during which a state of emergency was deemed to
have existed.
1. etween !" #ctober 1$"! to 1% &anuary 1$"' during the India(
)hina war * +the security of India+ having been declared
+threatened by external aggression+.
!. etween , -ecember 1$.1 to !1 /arch 1$.. originally
proclaimed during the Indo Pa0istan war, and later extended
along with the third proclamation * +the security of India+
having been declared +threatened by external aggression+.
,. etween !1 &une 1$.1 to !1 /arch 1$.. under controversial
circumstances of political instability under the Indira 2andhi3s
prime ministership * +the security of India+ having been
declared +threatened by internal disturbances+.
4he President can declare three types of emergencies5
6ational emergency
7tate emergency
8inancial emergency
4he 6ational 9mergency can be declared for the whole
country or for a part of it. A 6ational 9mergency, originally
declared for the whole country, can be later limited to a particular
part of the country in which there is serious emergency situation.
A proclamation of 6ational 9mergency has to be passed in
each house of Parliament by more than half of the total members
and at least by two(third of the members present and voting. 4his
proclamation will be invalid if it is not passed by both houses within
one month. It has to be passed frst by the :a;ya 7abha if the <o0
7abha stands dissolved at the time of proclamation of 6ational
9mergency.
It has to be passed within one month of <o0 7abha being
reconstituted= otherwise the proclamation will be invalid. 4he
proclamation of 6ational 9mergency will remain in force for six
months after it is duly passed by both houses of Parliament. 9ach
time it can be extended for six months with the approval of the
Parliament. 4here is no limit on such extension.
4he >>
th
Amendment Act, 1$.' empowers the <o0 7abha to
revo0e 6ational 9mergency by simple ma;ority. A special session of
the <o0 7abha has to be convened for this. 4he <o0 7abha can have
a special session if at least one(tenth of its members give a 1>(day
notice to the spea0er to convene a special session of the <o0 7abha.
4he President of India has also the power to revo0e the 6ational
9mergency whenever necessary.
Consequences of National Emergency
1. 4he Parliament gets power to ma0e laws in relation to the 7tate
<ist.
!. 4he ?nion government is empowered to give directions to the
state in executive matters.
,. 4he right to freedom under Art. 1$ are automatically suspended.
>. 4he right of )iti@en to see0 constitutional remedy under Art. ,!
are abridged= it may be suspended.
1. 4he ?nion 2overnment may suspend all other fundamental
rights except Art. !% and Art. !1.
". 4he division of sources of revenue between the centre and states
may be modifed.
If the President believes that there is a threat to the security
of India or to the security of a part of India, he has the power to
declare 6ational 9mergency. 7uch threat to India3s security or to
the security of any part of its territory may be caused when another
country declares war against India or attac0s it. It may also be
caused by armed rebellion.
ecause of fear that the President of India may misuse this
power, it has been provided in the >>th Amendment that the
President cannot declare 6ational 9mergency without the written
advice of the ?nion )abinet.
-uring a national emergency, many 8undamental :ights of
Indian citi@ens can be suspended. 4he six freedoms under :ight to
8reedom are automatically suspended. y contrast, the :ight to
<ife and Personal <iberty cannot be suspended according to the
original )onstitution. In &anuary 1$.., during the emergency
declared controversially by Indira 2andhi, the government decided
to suspend even the :ight to <ife and Personal <iberty by
dispensing with Aabeas corpus. &ustice A.:. Bhanna
1
defended the
:ight to <ife and as0ed5 +<ife is also mentioned in Article !1 and
would 2overnment argument extend to it alsoC+. 4he Attorney
2eneral observed5 +9ven if life was ta0en away illegally, courts are
helpless+.
!
A national emergency modifes the federal system of
government to a unitary one by granting Parliament the power to
ma0e laws on the "" sub;ects of the 7tate <ist Dwhich contains
sub;ects on which the state governments can ma0e lawsE. Also, all
state money bills are referred to the Parliament for its approval.
1
4he ;udgment of &ustice A.:. Bhanna is widely referred to as the boldest dissenting
;udgment in the history of India.
2
ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla, D1$."E ! 7)) 1!1.
-uring an emergency, the term of the <o0 7abha can be
successively extended by intervals of up to one year, but not beyond
six months after the state of emergency has been revo0ed.
Grounds for Proclamation of Emergency
efore the >>
th
amendment to the )onstitution of India, the
following are the grounds under which the President can proclaim
emergency.
Far
9xternal Aggression
Internal -isturbance
Aowever, the term Internal -isturbance is too vague and
might also include political agitations in the country. Aence, the
>>
th
amendment replaced this with armed rebellion. After the >>
th
amendment the following are the grounds under with a 6ational
9mergency can be proclaimed by the President.
Far
9xternal Aggression
Armed :ebellion.
4he 7upreme )ourt has clarifed that the term Ginternal
disturbanceH has a wider connotation than armed rebellion. 4he
intention underlying the substitution of Ginternal disturbanceH with
Garmed rebellionH is to limit the invocation of emergency powers
under Art ,1! to more serious cases.
,

It may also be noted that by the >>
th
amendment the scope of
GsatisfactionH of the President was stripped of the immunity from
;udicial review.
>

War
3
Naga Peoples Movement of Human Rights v. Union of Inia, D1$$'E ! 7)) 1%$.
4
Minerva Mills v. Union of Inia, D1$'%E , 7)) "!1= !aman Rao v. Union of Inia,
D1$'1E ! 7)) ,"!= S"R" #ommai v. Union of Inia, D1$$>E , 7)) 1.
Fhen a violent struggle between two countries with the use of
armed forces. It also includes when a country has made a formal
declaration of a war against India.
External Aggression
9xternal aggression has wide meanings. It covers unilateral
attac0s with force by one state against another 7tate without a
formal declaration of war. As long as the other 7tate has not
answered with similar hostile attac0s, it can be constituted an
external aggression.
Publication of Proclamation of Emergency
4here is no prescribed format in which a Proclamation of
9mergency needs to be published. 4he publication can be made in
any manner deemed ft in order to be 0nown to public. Aowever,
the Apex )ourt has held in #aburao v. Union of Inia
$
that a formal
publication is not necessary for coming into eIect of the
proclamation, or for its operation and continuance.
Efects
Suspension of undamental !ig"ts
4he frst and foremost eIect of an emergency is the
suspension of the fundamental rights guaranteed by Article 1$ of
the Indian )onstitution. ?nder articles ,1' and ,1$, the President
of India can extend the suspension of all fundamental rights except
those mentioned in Articles !% and !1.
Extension of Centre#s Executi$e Po%er
4he constitution empowers the ?nion to extend its executive
power by giving directions to state.
DaE to give directions to the 7tate DbE to ma0e laws of the 7tate
5
1$'' 7upp 7)) >%1
4he executive power also extends to states where emergency
is not in force, but are in relation to states which the Proclamation
of 9mergency is in operation.
Parliament to legislate on State sub&ects
4he law(ma0ing power of the 7tate is not suspended, but the
Parliament can amend laws which override the state laws.
Extension of life of 'o( Sab"a
4he President is empowered to extend the life of <o0 7abha by
one year and can extend it six months each time.
Exercise of Emergency Po%ers in India ) Illustrations
8or the frst time in independent India, 6ational 9mergency
was imposed on !" #ctober 1$"! in view of the )hinese aggression
against India. It was lifted on 1% &anuary 1$"'.
Another 6ational 9mergency was declared on , -ecember
1$.1, the day on which Pa0istan launched a war against India.
Pa0istan attac0ed India because of its support to the liberation of
angladesh. 4his emergency was still in operation when the
country was put under the third 6ational 9mergency in &une 1$.1.
It may be remembered that the third 6ational 9mergency was
imposed by the Indira 2andhi government after /rs. 2andhi3s
election to the <o0 7abha was declared null and void by the
Allahabad Aigh )ourt, 4he government declared 6ational
9mergency on the ground of 3internal disturbance3 on !1 &une 1$.1
which was revo0ed on !1 /arch 1$...
All the three 6ational 9mergencies were declared under
Article ,1!. Fhile the frst two emergencies were imposed on the
ground of 3external aggression3, the third was imposed on the
ground of 3internal disturbance3. oth the second and third 6ational
9mergencies were lifted on !1st /arch 1$...
4here were no complaints against the promulgation of frst
two 6ational 9mergencies. ut the third 6ational 9mergency was
widely critici@ed. It was charged that the only motive of imposing
this emergency was to defend the political interests of /rs. Indira
2andhi.
In 1$.1, /rs. Indira 2andhi, the then Prime /inister, had
advised the President to declare 6ational 9mergency without
consulting her cabinet. 4he 6ational 9mergency of 1$.1 was a
constitutional abuse and political malaise. 4he >>
th
Amendment is
an antidote to such danger.