Activity: Case study Supreme Court Judgment in S.R. Bommai Case Somappa Rayappa Bommai ( June to October ) was the 11th Chief Minister of Karnataka. He was also the Human Resource Development Minister in the United Front Government from to and served with both the Prime Ministers H. D.
Deve Gowda and I. K. Gujral. The Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment in the S.R.Bommai versus Union of India Case in that has protected the rights of the states greatly.
S.R. Bommai was the Chief Minister of Karnataka and his government was dismissed in by the Central Government leading to the filing of the case in the Supreme Court. The judgment protected the states from the arbitrary dismissal at the hands of the hostile Central Government. The main features of the judgment are: Article is an exceptional power to the Union Government and it should be used only occasionally to meet the exigencies of special occasions.
. . Venkatachaliah Commission The National Commission to review the working of the Constitution (NCRWC) also known as Justice Manepalli Narayana Rao Venkatachaliah Commission was set up by a resolution of the NDA Government of India led by Dr. Ambedkar called this Article as a dead letter to the Constitution as it negates the federal characters of the Indian Political System and the popular sovereignty of an elected government.
M.N Rao Venkatachaliah Atal Bihari Vajpayee on February for suggesting possible amendments to the Constitution of India. Emergency under this article can be imposed only on certain grounds signifying Constitutional breakdown. For example, if no party or coalition is able to generate majority support after the Legislative Assembly elections resulting in a hung Assembly; if Constitutional directions from the Central Government are disregarded by the State Government or State Government actively assists in internal subversion. Emergency cannot be imposed on certain grounds as they do not constitute Constitutional breakdown.
For example, a mere law and order problem cannot be construed as Constitutional breakdown. And, emergency cannot be imposed if the ruling party in the state lost heavily in the Parliamentary Elections. The Governor’s report on the breakdown of the Constitutional machinery in the state must be placed in Parliament. The report should be a thorough one detailing the exceptional situation in the state.
The Legislative Assembly of a state cannot be dissolved before the proclamation of the president is approved by both Houses of the Parliament. The court has power to determine the validity of the imposition of emergency under article of the Constitution. If the court finds the grounds of imposition unconstitutional it can and will nullify the proclamation and restore the dismissed State Government to life. To put it succinctly the Supreme Court possesses the power of Judicial Review over the imposition of article .
Ever since the judgment was delivered by the Supreme Court, the State Governments ruled by opposition parties have been protected from arbitrary dismissal by the Central Government with a different ruling party. Dicey: “A federal state is nothing but a political contrivance intended to reconcile national unity with maintenance of states’ rights”.