A Legal Approach on India’s National Emergency Provision

Abstract

In India, a state of emergency pertains to a period of governance that the President of India can proclaim during a specific crisis. The President has the authority to revoke several articles of the Indian Constitution that protect citizens’ fundamental rights on the advice of the Cabinet. Articles 352 through 360 of Part XVIII of the Indian Constitution comprises emergency provisions. The provisions allow the Centre to deal with any extraordinary event effectively. The rationale behind its incorporation is to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty, unity, integrity, security, democratic, political structure, and constitution. The Central Government will be in absolute power during the emergency, and the States will be under federal control. One of the main features of the Indian Constitution is how the ordinary federal constitution is adapted to emergencies. To the Constitution’s credit, it visualized a situation in which the rigid application of federal principles could destroy the fundamental premises on which it was built. The Indian Constitution is a way of adapting the normal Federal Constitution to emergencies. To the Constitution’s credit, it visualized a situation in which the concrete application of federal rules could destroy the fundamental assumptions upon which it is set. When India declares a state of emergency, the country’s federal system is transformed into a unified one, with all powers with the Central Government.