State of 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 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, there were three periods during which a state of emergency was deemed to have existed.

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:

National emergency can be declared on the basis of external aggression or armed rebellion in the whole of India or a part of its territory. Such an emergency was declared in India in 1962 (Indo-China war), 1971 (Indo-Pakistan war), and 1975 (declared by Indira Gandhi). The President can declare such an emergency only on the basis of a written request by the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. Such a proclamation must be laid before both houses of Parliament, and the state of emergency expires after one month unless approved within that time by both houses sitting and voting separately. However, if the Lok Sabha (the lower house) is not in session when the state of emergency is declared, and the Rajya Sabha approves of the state of emergency, the deadline for the Lok Sabha is extended until thirty days after that house convenes. According to Article 352(6), approval by each house requires a special majority: those in favour of the motion must be two thirds of those present and voting, and amount to a majority of the entire membership of that house. A Parliamentary resolution extends the state of emergency for up to six months, and it can be extended indefinitely by further resolutions in six-monthly increments.

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