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The State of Emergency in India: Böckenförde's Model in a Sub-National Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Abstract

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The Constitution of India envisages three types of emergencies: A national emergency; a state emergency (in the federal setup, regions are called states in India, and the central government has the power to impose an emergency if there is a breakdown of law and order in that state); and a financial emergency. The problem the State faces is how it can respond effectively to exceptional situations without casting its adherence to the rule of law into question.“ Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde offers a set of solutions within a model structure anchored in constitutional laws. The model structure, which applies at the federal level, advocates a separation between the authorizing agency—the political wing—and the implementation agency, as well as creating a distinction between a ”law“ and a ”measure,“ and between a most extreme and a merely difficult situation. By focusing on the actions of the higher judiciary in India, this Article tests whether the safeguards in Böckenförde's model structure function at the sub-national state level in a very different geography and context. The results highlight the concern that the dynamics of democracy and the reality of how political power is garnered in a federal Westminster style framework effectively stymie the procedural innovations introduced by Böckenförde's model by creating conditions, not for fair play, but for subverting the spirit of the law. Even the procedures outlined by Böckenförde—such as an emphasis on making the agent who holds the emergency powers a political, and not merely an administrative organization—accentuates, rather than mitigates, this problem.

Type
Emergency Laws and Constitutionalizing the “State of Emergency”
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by German Law Journal, Inc. 

References

1 Herbert Krüger, Hans Nawiasky, Carl Schmitt, Paul Kirchhof, Ulrich Scheuner and Klaus Stern are proponents of this approach. For a comparison of state-centered and constitution-centered theories see Jakab, András, German Constitutional Law and Doctrine on State of Emergency—Paradigms and Dilemmas of a Traditional (Continental) Discourse, 7 German L.J., 453, 453–78 (2005).Google Scholar

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3 The objective of the Appropriation Bill is to give the government the authority to withdraw the necessary capital from the Consolidated Fund of India in order to meet expenses that might occur during the fiscal year. The convention for passing Bills in Parliament and in the state legislative assemblies is through a voice vote—the legislators orally communicate “aye” or “nay” when the motion is put to vote. But when some legislators do not want a voice vote and instead demand a division, the Speaker of the House must record every vote either through an electronic system, if available, or through the physical division of the legislators into the ayes and the nays.Google Scholar

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14 Frankenberg points out that Gertrude Lübbe-Wolff is right to critique Böckenförde on this. It is not possible to effectively rule out the political temptation to use a vague general authorization in an exceptional situation by following a model of necessity as justification. This is even more the case if an emergency provision under constitutional law establishes preconditions, even if they are only minimal, for instance, with regard to powers, procedures, and purposes. Frankenberg, supra note 12, at 110–20.Google Scholar

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34 The forty-second Amendment extended the period for seeking Parliament's approval of the proclamation of Emergency under Article 356 to one year, as opposed to the earlier six-month limit. After the lifting of President's Rule, states had to enact new laws to undo the emergency provisions by amending Article 357. The Amendment also gave the Union Government the right to authorize the use of any central military force “for dealing with any grave situation of law and order in any State.” The President was empowered, in consultation with the Election Commission, to disqualify members of State Legislatures. See Forty-Second Amendment: http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend /amend42.htm.Google Scholar

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52 The reason for allowing the disqualification to stand is articulated by one of the Supreme Court judges:Google Scholar

As of today, rightly or wrongly, you are disqualified, that too on the decision of the Speaker. The challenge against your disqualification is pending in the High Court. We are passing an order based on the Attorney-General's submission to have a floor test …. But once disqualified, we cannot permit you to vote …. We will not say anything more ….

Justice Misra addressed senior advocate C.A. Sundaram, appearing for the nine dissident MLAs. Krishnadas Rajagopal, Uttarakhand Floor Test on May 10; Cong. Rebels Can't Vote, The Hindu (May 6, 2016), http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Uttarakhand-floor-test-on-May-10-Cong.-rebels-cant-vote/article15618466.ece.Google Scholar