Emergency Powers of the President

The public authorities are expected to act quickly and efficiently if an emergency situation happens. The public authorities are then expected to act diligently within their powers to resolve the situation as soon as possible. The state of emergency is characterized by a complete breakdown of the administrative machinery. At this point of time, the President of India gets a lot of leverage and can have the opportunity to possess extraordinary powers. Although if and when the president of India gets these special powers, it is almost certain that the situation in the country is not stable and is experiencing a situation of crisis. These powers are popularly known as the ‘Emergency powers of the president’. 

The situation when the Powers can be Exercised

Only in times of emergency, the president of India can get the emergency powers. Those emergencies can be identified as three situations. They are:

1. A situation of national emergency due to any kind of external aggression or armed rebellion.
2. If any state of the country experiences a situation where there is a violation of the spirit of the Constitution and the entire constitutional machinery is broken down.
3. Any type of major financial emergency. 

Powers

• Proclamation of national emergency by the President of India- According to Article 352, if the security of the country is in trouble and feels threatened by any form of external aggression, fear of war, armed rebellion, the President of India has the power to proclaim a situation of emergency. In this situation, all the executive powers of the states will be directed by the Central Government and nothing will be done without their accordance. The key rights that will then become suspended for the time being will be the right to freedom of speech and expression, freedom to practice any profession, and the freedom to form any kind of association. All these rights that are embodied in Article 19, shall remain suspended until further notice.
• Failure of State Constitutional Machinery (article 356)- The President of India will get the power to proclaim if the state constitutional machinery fails. The Union Parliament will have the authority to exercise all the decisions of the State Legislatures and the President will be able to recognize himself as the executive powers of the state. This situation can only be implemented for a continuous span of three years maximum. 
• Financial Emergency (Article 360)- If the financial situation of the country is threatened and the economic stability of India is at risk, the President has the power to issue a Proclamation of financial emergency. Until and unless the situation gets better and the President is satisfied with the financial stability of India, this financial emergency will remain active. The Central Government will take all the financial decisions to improve the situation and the President will check all the money bills passed by the State Legislature. 

Conclusion

In times of crisis, the President of India may have to play an extremely important role and try to bring back situations under control. It is expected of the President to make the best decisions for the sake of the country’s goodwill without any other hidden agenda. The position and role of a President are of utmost responsibility and dignity and must abide by the rules and guidelines of the constitution of India. It must be noted that if and when the president of India gets these special powers, it is almost for sure that the situation in the country is not good as all the powers can be obtained by the president only in times of national emergencies. So, for the best interest of the country, it is ideal that this situation does not come in the first place but if it happens, the Central Government and the President must be well prepared at all times.