Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2009

Abstract

In Rameshwar Prasad v. Union of India, the Supreme Court reviewed the constitutional validity of the Union's dissolution of the Bihar State legislative assembly and the proclamation of President's rule under Article 356 of the Constitution. The Court held that the dissolution of the State assembly and the proclamation of President's rule was unconstitutional and declared that it had the power to restore a dissolved assembly in an appropriate case. However, as elections to the Bihar assembly had been notified prior to the decision of the Court, it refrained from restoring the State assembly in this case. Rameshwar Prasad does not significantly alter the scope of judicial review of proclamations of regional emergencies under Article 356. However, there is some concern about the Court's interpretation of when a legislative assembly is legally constituted and therefore when it may be legally dissolved. In this case, the legislative assembly was dissolved soon after the conduct of elections and before it met for the first time. The Court held that when the Election Commission notifies the election results and the assembly is "duly constituted" as per Section 73 of the Representation of People's Act, 1951, the assembly comes into existence.

Disciplines

Comparative and Foreign Law | Constitutional Law | Law

Comments

Originally published in the Indian Journal of Constitutional Law.

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