➨ President's Rule

       President's Rule is the suspension of State Govt. & imposition of direct Union Govt. rule in a state. 

       It happens when a state Govt. is unable to function/operate according to constitutional provisions. The Union Govt. can take direct control of the state machinery. This power to Union Govt. is given by the Indian Constitution, Article - 356.

       The Executive authority of the state is then handled by the centrally appointed Governor. Governor can also appoint other Administrators to assist him.

       If the state Govt. is operating correctly according to the Indian Constitution then the state is run by an elected Council of Ministers, they are responsible to the state's Legislative Assembly/Vidhan Sabha. This council is led by CM (Chief Minister). 

       Now, let me explain to you the difference between Governor of the State & Chief Minister of the State. 

   1) Chief Minister - He/She is De Facto chief executive of State

   2) Governor - He/She is De Jure Constitutional Head.

       As These words are Latin, Let me explain to you the meaning of De Facto and De Jure. 

   1) De Facto - Exist in reality but not officially recognized by Laws.

   2) De Jure - Holding specific position by Legal Right.

       In simplest words, The Governor of the States has similar powers and functions at the State level as those of the President of India at the Central level ( Union Territories have Lieutenant Governors). Similarly, You can compare CM with PM. CM of states is elected while Governor of State shall be appointed by the Presidents Warrant under his Hand and Seal (Article - 155). A person to be eligible for appointment as Governor should be a Citizen of India & has completed the age of 35 Years (Article - 157).


 ⚫   During President's Rule:-

   1) The council of Ministers/Vidhan sabha would dissolve.

   2) CM office would be Vacate.

   3) Vidhan Sabha either Prorogued or dissolved, necessitating a new Election. 

 ➨ Some Circumstances under which President's Rule can be imposed:-

   1) A state legislature is unable to elect a leader as a CM for a time prescribed by the Governor of the state, at the will of the Governor.

   2) Breakdown condition leading to the CM having minority support in the house & CM fails to Prove (again within the time given by Governor).

   3) Loss of majority in the assembly due to a vote of no confidence in the house.

   4) Elections postponed for an unavoidable reasons like War, Epidemic, Pandemic, Crisis, Natural Disaster, etc.

   5) If the report of the Governor states that the state's constitutional machinery or Legislature fails to abide by Constitutional norms.

       To impose President's rule, approval from both Houses, Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha is required. If both houses approve, The President's Rule can be imposed for 6 months & it can also be extended for a max. 3 years, but it requires parliament's approval once every 6 months.


       If the Lok Sabha gets dissolved while this time then the rule is valid for 30 days from the first sitting of the Lok Sabha provided that this continuance has already been approved by Rajya Sabha.

➨ The 44th Amendment Act - 1978

       According to this amendment, President's Rule can only be extended over a year every 6 months under the below-given condition:-

   1) There is already a National Emergency throughout India or in whole or any part of the state.

   2) The Election Commission certifies that elections can not be conducted in the state.

➨ There is one thing that only President could do. The President of India has the power to revoke the President's Rule at any time without the approval of Parliament.

➨  Article - 356 is not applicable in Union Territories but there are many ways by which rule can be imposed. For example. President's rule had imposed on J&k 30 October 2019. At that time J&K was state. Then State was split into 2 Union Territories. 1st is J&K and 2nd is Ladakh. So for the continuance of rule, it was imposed under Section 73 of the J&K Reorganisation Act - 2019. 

       This rule has imposed in different states and Union Territories of India. List of Instances where President's Rule had Imposed:-

   1) Andhra Pradesh - 2 times

   2) Andhra State - 1 time

   3) Arunachal Pradesh - 2 times

   4) Assam - 4 times

   5) Bihar - 8 times

   6) Delhi - 1 time

   7) Goa - 5 times

   8) Gujrat - 5 times

   9) Haryana - 3 times

   10) Himachal Pradesh - 2 times

   11) Jammu & Kashmir (state) - 8 times

   12) Jammu & Kashmir (Union Territory) - 1 time - from 31 October, 2019 to Present.

   13) Jharkhand - 3 times

   14) Karnataka - 6 times

   15) Kerala - 4 times

   16) Madhya Pradesh - 3 times

   17) Maharashtra - 3 times

   18) Manipur - 10 times

   19) Meghalaya - 2 times

   20) Mizoram - 3 times

   21) Nagaland - 4 times

   22) Odisha - 6 times

   23) Patiala & East Punjab States - 1 time

   24) Puducherry - 7 Times

   25) Punjab - 8 times

   26) Rajasthan - 4 times

   27) Sikkim - 2 times

   28) Tamil Nadu - 4 times

   29) Tripura - 3 times

   30) Uttar Pradesh - 9 times

   31) Uttarakhand - 2 time

   32) West Bengal - 4 times

● Large No. Of President's Rule was imposed by Indira Gandhi.


● The State of Emergency