Abstract
[1]Article 356 of the Indian Constitution defines the presidential power which gives power to impose President’s rule in a state. When the constituency of the state is failed, the president can impose the President’ rule. The actual use of this article is drifted from its original purpose to achieve political need instead of actual emergencies. In past, the central government used this article to remove the state government which is threat to Indian democracy and Federal system. The repeated misuse of the article 356 of the Indian Constitution is created debates in separation of powers between the State and the Centre.
Because of the executive authorities this article became open to misuse the powers, they are havingmost of the powers in their hand without any rules and regulation.[2]After the supreme court judgement in the landmark case S.R. BOMMAI v/s UNION OF INDIA (1994), the court established crucial measures by the verdict of the case that decree of President’s Rule needs judicial examination and approval. The landmark case S.R. BOMMAI v/s UNION OF INDIA (1994) shifted the constitutional law; the supreme court verdict is to establish a voting system in the state legislative assembly for the members so they can evaluate the majority. They will not rely on the Governor’sreport. The decision stopped the misuse of the power of article 356 and reinforce principles of federalism and which forms the part of the basic framework of constitution.
The research paper examines the constitutional framework of the article 356 of the Indian Constitution, the study also shows the initial stage of the historical developments and the current stage. The detailed analysis of the studytalks about how misuse of this article affected the centre-state relation and democratic governance. The study will show the interpretation of the judge which are in S.R. BOMMAI case.[3]The paper evaluates the post developments of S.R. BOMMAI, whether they succeed in the break off the misuse of article 356 after the BOMMAI judgement and established a judicial safeguard. The research paper examines the problems of intervention of the Governor and Judicial provision while implementing the article 356.
Keywords–Article 356, President’s rule, Constitution of India, Federalism, Centre-State Relations, Misuse of Power, Governor’s role, Basic framework, S.R. BOMMAI case.
Synopsis –
The major focus of the research paper is to examine the function of Article 356 of the Indian Constitution and its misuse. This article has an emergency function which give permission to the government to maintain the law and order in a state of emergency. There are two main purposes of the Article 356 of the Indian Constitution which is actual constitutional emergency and other is political aim to remove the opposition who is controlling the state government.
The research paper highlights the historical background of article 356 of the Indian Constitution, also highlight the instances where the article misused. The paper analyses the impact of the emergency and how it will affect the centre-state relation.
The primary focus of the study is the landmark case S.R. BOMMAI v/s UNION OF INDIA (1994) judgement which changed the interpretation of the article 356 of the Indian Constitution. The supreme court. Further, the study shows post BOMMAI-developments in the article whether the decision made by judicial review is effective or not. The paper concludes with emphasizing the need of strict adherence to constitutional principle and it also suggest reforms to prevent the misuse of the article.
Introduction –
The constitution of India developed federal system with the neat separation of powers.[4]It includes provisions for emergency which enables state governments to follow principles. In India, the president takeover the control when there is a constitutional failure in the state.
Application of article 356 has often been controversial and people started debates. When the politician faces multiple constitutional problems, they created fake constitutional crises and misuse the article. This created arguments about the misuse of power, the weakening of federalism and democratic system failure. The judiciary give best solution for these problems in the verdict of the landmark case S.R. BOMMAI v/s UNION OF INDIA.
[5]The research paper shows how constitutional laws handled the article 356 of the Indian constitution, is talks about the mistakes made in past and how the judiciary controlled the application of article. The study shows whether the misuse of article 356 with the help of judiciary or still in the arbitrary manner.
The research paper analyses the current use and the historical developments of the article 356 of Indian Constitution. [6]It particularly shows that how this article has been misused in the past and the effects of the landmark Bommai judgement. The study investigates the political practices and judicial interpretations to provide the better understanding of the legal provision and guidelines and suggest measures to ensure the best use of the article.
[1] Constitution of India, art. 356
[2] Drishti IAS, ‘President’s Rule in India’ (23 September 2025) <Drishti IAS Article>
[3] Shivani A, ‘S.R. Bommai v. Union of India: Power of President’s Rule Curtailed’ (iPleaders, 16 January 2024) https://blog.ipleaders.in/s-r-bommai-v-union-of-india-power-of-presidents-rule-curtailed/
[4] Neha Uppin, ‘A Critical Analysis of Imposition of President’s Rule on States and its Impact on Indian Federal Structure’ (2024) 12(1) International Journal of Creative Research Thoughtshttps://www.ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2401759.pdf
[5] Shruti Rajagopalan and others, ‘How Supreme Court Judgment Checked the Misuse of President’s Rule (Art 356)’ (Hindustan Times, 11 March 2024) https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/how-supreme-court-judgment-checked-the-misuse-of-president-s-rule-art-356-101710094868606.html
[6] ‘S. R. Bommai v. Union of India’ Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._R._Bommai_v._Union_of_India