Question

If President Rule under Article 356 is proposed in a state ___________.
A. The Assembly of the state is automatically dissolved
B. Article 19 is suspended in that state
C. Parliament assumes the power to legislate on State List
D. The President can make laws relating to that state

Answer 1

Hint: The President is the Executive Head of the Republic and can declare three types of emergencies. Articles 352, 356 and 360 embodies these powers.

Complete Answer: The President is the nominal head of the state. He enjoys vast powers and functions. Constitutional Emergency is declared when there is a failure of constitutional machinery in the state as reported by the Governor or some other agency. Constitutional Emergency sometimes is also referred to as President Rule. Article 356 of the Indian Constitution empowers the President to proclaim constitutional emergency and impose President Rule. When a President rule is imposed in a state the Parliament assumes the power to legislate on State List and wields all the powers of the State. In addition, the President can declare the Parliament to exercise the powers of the State legislature.

Both the houses of the Parliament must approve the emergency within two months of its declaration otherwise it is revoked. This proclamation can be valid for one year according to the 44th Amendment of the constitution if it is renewed after six months. Under special circumstances, the extension can go up to three years. It also includes the inability of the election commission to hold an election. The Constitutional emergency has already been proclaimed for more than 112 times in states.

Thus, the correct answer is option (C).

Note: The other emergency powers of the President are the national and financial emergencies. A national emergency (Article 352) is declared by the President when a situation of internal disturbances and external aggression takes place while financial emergency (Article 360) is declared when the President is satisfied that a situation has arisen whereby the financial situation or credit of India is threatened.