Emergency, Amendments & Centre-State Relations

A constitution written for peace must also know what to do in a storm. The framers borrowed the idea of emergency powers from the Weimar Constitution of Germany and from the Government of India Act, 1935, and placed them in Part XVIII (Articles 352 to 360). India has three kinds of emergency: National Emergency (Article 352), President's Rule or State Emergency (Article 356) and Financial Emergency (Article 360). The first two have been used; the third has never been declared. In an emergency the normal federal balance tilts sharply towards the Centre, and the country begins to behave like a unitary state.

Why did the 44th Amendment (1978) tighten Article 352? Because the Emergency of 1975 had been declared on the ground of 'internal disturbance', a vague phrase. The 44th Amendment replaced it with 'armed rebellion', demanded that the written advice of the Cabinet (not just the Prime Minister) reach the President, cut the time for Parliament's approval from two months to one month, required a special majority (a majority of the total membership of each House and two-thirds of those present and voting) for the first approval. Each later extension of six months needs only a simple majority. Think of it as 'make the exceptional power harder to misuse'.

Article 356 (President's Rule) is invoked when the President is satisfied, on the Governor's report or otherwise, that the government of a State cannot be carried on according to the Constitution. Article 355 puts a duty on the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance, and Article 365 says that failure to comply with the Union's directions can itself be treated as a breakdown. During President's Rule the Council of Ministers is dismissed, the Governor rules on the President's behalf, the State Legislature is suspended or dissolved, and Parliament makes laws for the State, though the High Court continues to work normally. A Proclamation must be approved by both Houses within two months by a simple majority; it lasts six months at a time and can be extended up to three years. Beyond one year, an extension is allowed only if a National Emergency is in operation in the whole country or in the State and the Election Commission certifies that elections cannot be held (44th Amendment). The landmark case is S. R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994): the Supreme Court held that a Proclamation is subject to judicial review, that a government's majority must be tested on the floor of the House, not by the Governor's opinion, and that secularism is part of the basic structure. The first use was in Punjab in 1951.

Article 360 (Financial Emergency) can be declared when the President is satisfied that the financial stability or credit of India or any part of it is threatened. Its effects: the Union may direct States to observe canons of financial propriety; the President may order reduction of salaries and allowances of all persons serving in connection with the Union or State affairs, including judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts; and all Money Bills and Financial Bills of the States can be reserved for the President's consideration. It has to be approved by both Houses within two months by a simple majority, and has no maximum period. It has never been declared, not even during the 1991 balance-of-payments crisis.

A constitution must be firm enough to protect liberty and flexible enough to meet new needs. Jawaharlal Nehru said that while they wanted the Constitution to be as solid and permanent as they could make it, there is no permanence in constitutions. The framers therefore chose a middle path: some parts can be changed as easily as an ordinary law, some need a special majority, and a few need the consent of the States as well. The rules are in Part XX, Article 368. The idea of the amending procedure was borrowed from the Constitution of South Africa.

There are three ways to change the Constitution. (1) By simple majority of Parliament, outside Article 368: admission of new States, changes in State boundaries and names, citizenship, official language, Legislative Councils, the Fifth and Sixth Schedules, and so on. (2) By a special majority under Article 368: most of the Constitution, including Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles. (3) By a special majority plus ratification by at least half of the State legislatures: federal provisions such as the election of the President, the extent of executive power of the Union and States, the Supreme Court and High Courts, the distribution of legislative powers, any of the Lists in the Seventh Schedule, the representation of States in Parliament, and Article 368 itself.

Every amendment has a story: a problem the country faced, and a change the Constitution made to answer it. If you learn the story, you do not need to memorise the number separately. As of 2025, the Constitution has been amended 106 times, the latest being the 106th Amendment (2023) on women's reservation. Below are the amendments that the examiners ask about most, with the one thing each is remembered for.

India is a federation, but a federation with a strong Centre. The relations between the Union and the States are described in Part XI (Articles 245 to 263) and Part XII (Articles 268 to 293). Part XI has two chapters: legislative relations (Articles 245-255) and administrative relations (Articles 256-263); the financial relations are in Part XII. The central tool of the legislative scheme is the Seventh Schedule, with three lists, borrowed from the Government of India Act, 1935. The idea of a strong Centre with residuary powers came from Canada, and the Concurrent List came from Australia.

Article 246 fixes the priority: the Union List is supreme (Parliament has exclusive power); on the Concurrent List both can legislate, but if they clash the Union law prevails (Article 254); the State List belongs to the States, but 'subject to' the other two. Residuary powers (any subject not in any list) belong to Parliament (Article 248 and Entry 97 of the Union List), unlike in the USA, where they belong to the States. Even for a Concurrent List subject, a State law passed with the President's assent can prevail in that State over an earlier Union law (Article 254(2)), though Parliament can again override it by a later law.

Making laws is only half the story; someone has to carry them out, and someone has to pay for it. So the Constitution also fixes who administers (Articles 256 to 263) and who collects and spends (Articles 268 to 293). In administration the States run most Union laws on the ground, under the Union's directions. In finance the Centre collects the larger share of revenue while the States carry the larger share of spending, so the gap is filled through the Finance Commission, grants-in-aid and now the GST Council.

Look at the pattern: the Centre does not run the whole administration, but it holds three levers over the States. (1) Directions under Articles 256 and 257, backed by Articles 355 and 365. (2) All-India Services: IAS and IPS officers serve in the States but belong to the Centre's cadre system. (3) The Governor, appointed by the President, who can reserve Bills for the President (Article 200) and send reports under Article 356. Together these make India federal in form, but with a strong unitary bias, which K. C. Wheare called 'quasi-federal'.

A federation does not run on Articles alone. Disputes will always arise between the Centre and the States, so a mature federation builds meeting rooms and review committees where they can talk before they fight in court. India has both: commissions that reviewed Centre-State relations and made recommendations, and councils that bring the Centre and the States to one table. In this topic we study the main commissions in the order they came, then the Inter-State Council (Article 263) and the Zonal Councils.

Sarkaria and Punchhi are not rivals but two chapters of one story. Sarkaria (1983) asked: how can the existing system work better, without rewriting it? Punchhi (2007) asked the same question twenty-five years later, in a more crowded, coalition-era India. Both reject the idea that States should be weak, and both reject the idea that the Centre should be reduced; their answer is cooperative federalism: talk first, use emergency powers last.

The Inter-State Council (Article 263). Article 263 says that if the President thinks the public interest would be served by a council to inquire into and advise upon disputes between States, to investigate and discuss subjects of common interest, or to recommend better policy coordination, he may establish such a council. Notice the word may: the Constitution does not force the Centre to create it, and for forty years it did not. Following the Sarkaria Commission, it was set up by a Presidential Order on 28 May 1990. Its Secretariat was created in 1991. The Prime Minister is the Chairman; the Chief Ministers of all States and of Union Territories with a legislature, the Administrators of other Union Territories, and six Union Cabinet-rank Ministers nominated by the Prime Minister are members. A Standing Committee, headed by the Union Home Minister, prepares the ground. The Council is only recommendatory; it does not decide disputes like a court.