Tuesday, 23 August 2016

Landmark Judgement of SC regarding ARTICLE 356 (S. R. Bommai v. Union of India [1994])

S. R. Bommai v. Union of India [1994]

It
 was a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of India
, where the Court discussed at length provisions of Article 356 of the Constitution of India and related issues.

-This case had huge impact on Centre-State Relations.
-The judgement attempted to curb blatant misuse of Article 356 of the Constitution of India, which allowed President's Rule to be imposed over state governments


ARTICLE 356 - The phrase "President's rule" refers to the imposition of Article 356 of the Constitution of India on a State whose constitutional machinery has failed.

-In the event that a 
State government is not able to function as per the Constitution, the State comes under the direct control of the central government; in other words, it is "under President's rule"

-The SC laid down certain guidelines so as to prevent the misuse of A 356 of the constitution.
  1. The majority enjoyed by the Council of Ministers shall be tested on the floor of the House.
  2. Centre should give a warning to the state and a time period of one week to reply.
  3. The court cannot question the advice tendered by the CoMs to the President but it can question the material behind the satisfaction of the President. Hence, Judicial Review will involve three questions only:
    a. Is there any material behind the proclamation
    b. Is the material relevant.
    c. Was there any mala fide use of power.
  4. If there is improper use of A356 then the court will provide remedy.
  5. Under Article 356(3) it is the limitation on the powers of the President. Hence, the president shall not take any irreversible action until the proclamation is approved by the Parliament i.e. he shall not dissolve the assembly.
  6. Article 356 is justified only when there is a breakdown of constitutional machinery and not administrative machinery
Article 356 shall be used sparingly by the center, otherwise it is likely to destroy the constitutional structure between the center and the states. Even Dr. Ambedkar envisaged it to remain a 'dead letter' in the constitution


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