Exercise of Legislative Powers During President's Rule

Legislative powers during President's Rule are governed by Article 357 of the Constitution, which tells Parliament what to do with a state's law-making power once that state's legislature has been suspended or dissolved under a Proclamation issued under Article 356. Article 356 deals with the political consequence of failure of constitutional machinery in a state — the takeover of the executive; Article 357 deals with the legislative consequence — who makes the state's laws while that takeover lasts. Together the two provisions keep a state administratively and legally functional through the period commonly called President's Rule.

Why Article 357 Is Needed

When a Proclamation under Article 356(1) declares that the powers of a state's Legislature shall be exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament, the state's own law-making body is no longer available to pass ordinary legislation, budgets, or amendments to state laws. Article 357 fills this gap by specifying exactly how Parliament may discharge that legislative role, and by whom the actual drafting and enactment work can be carried out on a day-to-day basis.

What Article 357(1) Allows

Article 357(1) sets out three distinct competencies that come into existence once a state's legislative powers pass to Parliament:

In practice, clause (a) is the one most often used: Parliament formally confers the state's law-making power on the President, who in turn typically delegates it further so that state-specific legislation (often called President's Act) can be issued without every bill going through the full parliamentary process. Clause (c) is a purely financial safeguard — it lets state expenditure continue even when Parliament itself is not sitting.

How This Fits With Article 356

A Proclamation under Article 356 may direct that all or any of the functions of the state government be exercised by the Governor, and it results in the state Legislative Assembly being either dissolved or kept under suspension. Once the Proclamation also declares that the state Legislature's law-making powers are exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament, Article 357 becomes operative. The President, acting on the Council of Ministers' advice, thus effectively steps into three roles during President's Rule: taking over the functions otherwise vested in the Governor or other state executive authority, holding (or delegating) the state's legislative power under Article 357, and taking any other steps needed, including suspending constitutional provisions relating to state bodies.

Article 357 Compared With Article 250

Article 357 is frequently confused with Article 250, but the two operate under different emergencies and in different ways.

This distinction is a common Prelims trap: Article 250 widens Parliament's reach without touching the state Legislature, while Article 357 exists precisely because the state Legislature is no longer available to legislate at all.

The PEPSU Appropriation Bill Episode

The only recorded instance of a President withholding assent to a Bill passed by Parliament arose directly out of Article 357. Parliament had passed the PEPSU Appropriation Bill exercising the legislative powers of the PEPSU state under a Proclamation issued under Article 356. That Proclamation was revoked on 7 March 1954, and the Bill was presented for the President's assent the very next day, 8 March 1954. The President withheld assent on the ground that, once the Proclamation had been revoked, Parliament no longer possessed the power to legislate for the state, so a Bill enacted in exercise of that now-lapsed power could not be given presidential assent. The episode is regularly cited as illustrating both the President's power to withhold assent and the strict time-bound nature of the legislative competence Article 357 confers.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• Article 357 deals with the exercise of legislative powers under a Proclamation issued under Article 356, not with the Proclamation itself.
• Under Article 357(1)(a), Parliament confers the state's law-making power on the President, who may delegate it further.
• Article 357(1)(c) allows the President to authorise expenditure from a state's Consolidated Fund when the House of the People is not in session.
• Article 357 (state legislative substitution) should not be confused with Article 250 (Parliament's concurrent power over the State List during a national Emergency under Article 352).

Mains

• Explain how Article 357 operationalises the legislative consequences of a Proclamation under Article 356, and assess whether concentrating a state's law-making power in the President (or his delegate) is consistent with federal principles.
• Discuss, with reference to the PEPSU Appropriation Bill episode, the limits of Parliament's legislative competence over a state once a President's Rule Proclamation is revoked.

FAQ

Q1. What does Article 357 of the Constitution deal with? It lays down how a state's legislative powers are exercised once a Proclamation under Article 356 declares that they are exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament — that is, during President's Rule.

Q2. Who actually makes laws for a state during President's Rule? Parliament may either legislate itself or confer the state Legislature's law-making power on the President, who can further delegate it, subject to conditions, to another specified authority.

Q3. Can the President authorise state spending without Parliament's approval during President's Rule? Yes, but only as a stopgap: Article 357(1)(c) lets the President authorise expenditure from the state's Consolidated Fund when the House of the People is not in session, pending Parliament's eventual sanction.

Q4. Is Article 357 the same as Article 250? No. Article 357 operates when a state's own Legislature is suspended or dissolved under Article 356 and Parliament substitutes for it. Article 250 operates during a national Emergency under Article 352, when the state Legislature keeps functioning but Parliament additionally gets concurrent power over State List subjects.

Q5. What happened with the PEPSU Appropriation Bill? Parliament passed it exercising Article 357 powers for PEPSU state, but the President withheld assent because the underlying Article 356 Proclamation had been revoked before the Bill reached him for assent, so Parliament's legislative competence over the state had already lapsed.

Quick Revision

• Article 357 = legislative-power consequence of an Article 356 Proclamation.
• 357(1)(a): Parliament confers state law-making power on President; President may delegate further.
• 357(1)(b): Parliament/President/delegate may confer powers or impose duties on the Union or its officers.
• 357(1)(c): President may authorise expenditure from a state's Consolidated Fund when Lok Sabha is not in session.
• Article 357 substitutes the state Legislature; Article 250 supplements it during a national Emergency.
• PEPSU Appropriation Bill: only known case of presidential withholding of assent to a Parliament-passed Bill, tied directly to a lapsed Article 357 competence.

Sources

• Constitution of India, Article 357 — https://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india
• Constitution of India, Article 356 — https://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india
• Constitution of India, Article 250 — https://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india
• India Code, Constitution of India (official text) — https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/1362

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

• M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
• D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
• The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.