Special Provisions As To Financial Emergency
- IJLLR Journal
- Apr 7
- 1 min read
Twesha Vansiaa, BBA LLB, Auro University, Surat, Gujarat.
ABSTRACT
Article 360 of the Indian Constitution provides for a financial emergency, a special constitutional device intended to deal with serious economic crises endangering India's financial health. This provision gives the Union government sweeping powers to impose tight financial controls, such as controlling state financial policies, cutting salaries (including judicial officers' salaries), and redistributing economic resources. Notwithstanding its incorporation in the Constitution, Article 360 has never been invoked, even in times of major economic crises like the 1991 Balance of Payments Crisis and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Rather, India has used policy reforms, monetary corrections, and fiscal stimulus to stabilize the economy, demonstrating a preference for strategic interventions rather than emergency measures.
The article mentions that Article 360 is dangerous with the scope it leaves to definition of "financial stability" inviting political abuse and concentration of powers at the Center at the cost of the Centre-State system as well as an independent judiciary, violating the fundamentals of democratic processes and citizens' fundamental rights. To meet these issues, legal scholars recommend changes like specifying certain economic criteria for the declaration of a financial emergency, providing for time-bound parliamentary scrutiny, and increasing judicial control to avert misuse.
Although Article 360 is still a fundamental constitutional mechanism for coping with economic instability, its application must be delicately balanced between interventionist economic measures and defending individual rights as well as federal authority. Fortifying procedural safeguards, ensuring greater transparency, and making transparent guidelines for invocation is indispensable to safeguarding the provision's integrity and its use in times of emergency from abuse.
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