Article 352

Article 352 is the National Emergency Act where an emergency is announced by the President of India due to any armed rebellion, war or any other external attack or aggression. 44th Amendment of Indian constitution included or substituted the term ‘armed rebellion’ by replacing ‘internal disturbance’ phrase. In India, the emergency state was declared 3 times in which the first one was during the war of India and China from October 26,1962 till January 10, 1968 when the Indian security and safety was endangered due to the external attacks or aggression while the second one was when the emergency was announced during the war of India and Pakistan from December 3 to December 17, 1971 and the third and the last one was from June 25, 1975 to March 21, 1977 which was declared by Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed due to ‘internal disturbances’ or the instability of political circumstances under leadership of Indra Gandhi so that she can overrule the order of High Court of Allahabad against her and was the emergency under Article 352 in 1975.

Types of Emergencies

There are 3 types of emergencies that the Indian President can declare or announce and they are;

• State Emergency (Article 356): This is the emergency which is declared under the Article 356 of Indian Constitution by the Indian President for 2 months.

• National Emergency (Article 352): When the emergency occurs due to external aggression, war or armed rebellion which threaten the governance, peace, security and stability of the country India then under Article 352, the Indian President can announce the national emergency. The national emergency is applicable for a duration of 6 months and if required then it can be renewed or extended by the Parliament approval after 6 months.

• Financial Emergency (Article 360): This is the emergency which is declared under the Article 360 of Indian Constitution by the Indian President.

The Effects of the Article 352

Article 352 will bring various changes in the setup of the running of the country. For uniformity purposes of the administration the country’s federal framework will turn to an unitary one. The extraordinary or special powers are given to the President of India in order to figure out the instructions and directions to the state. The effects of the Article 352 can be done in following three manners;

• It will affect the life of the legislature.

• It will have the effect on the Fundamental Rights of an individual.

• It will also affect the relations of Centre and State.

Grounds for the National Emergency under Article 352

The reasons for national emergency under Article 352 are as follows;

• When the safety and security of the country is in danger due to armed rebellion, external aggression or war. The emergency of war and external aggression is regarded as the external emergency while the emergency of armed rebellion will be regarded as the internal emergency.

• The 44th Amendment introduced the term armed rebellion by replacing the term internal disturbances and this was done because it was believed that the term internal disturbances would be misinterpreted which may lead to states political persecution.

• The Indian President can also declare the national emergency even before the armed rebellion, external aggression or war if he or she is convinced that there might be some serious danger.

Conclusion

Article 352 is an article which states the National Emergency and was declared by the President of India when he feels the danger of armed rebellion, war or external aggression to the country which will affect the peace and stability of India. He can declare an emergency even before any war or attack if he/she finds some danger to the country. the 44th Amendment changes the term internal disturbances to armed rebellion in order to decrease the state political persecution. The emergency under Article 352 in 1975 was declared due to instability of political issues under the Prime Minister Indra Gandhi from June 25, 1975 to March 21, 1977.