S.R. Bommai Case and Judicial Review of Article 356

Bommai judicial review is the standard the Supreme Court set in S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994) for testing whether a Presidential Proclamation dismissing a state government under Article 356 is constitutionally valid. Before this ruling, the President's "satisfaction" that a state's constitutional machinery had broken down was largely treated as beyond the reach of courts, which allowed the provision to be used against elected state governments for political reasons. The Bommai judgment changed this by holding that the proclamation itself, and the material behind it, can be examined by the judiciary.

Article 356: What the Provision Says

Article 356 deals with the "failure of constitutional machinery" in a state. It provides that if the President, on receipt of a report from the Governor or otherwise, is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of a state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, the President may issue a Proclamation. Once issued, the President may assume the functions of the state government (other than those of the High Court) and direct that the powers of the state legislature be exercised by, or under the authority of, Parliament. In practice, this is commonly called "President's Rule," and the Governor's report is usually the trigger that sets the process in motion.

A History of Frequent Use and Misuse

Article 356 was meant as a last-resort safeguard for constitutional government in the states, but it came to be used often — not less than 132 times in the first 74 years of the Constitution's working, up to April 2024. In several instances, state governments were dismissed even though they commanded a majority in the legislature, as happened in Kerala in 1959, or without any attempt to test their majority on the floor of the House, a pattern seen in a number of states after 1967. This record of frequent and sometimes politically motivated use is the backdrop against which the question of judicial review of Article 356 became significant.

The scope for judicial scrutiny was itself unsettled for a period. The Constitution (Thirty-eighth Amendment) Act, 1975 made the President's satisfaction under Article 356 "final and conclusive" and barred any court from questioning it on any ground. This effectively closed the door on judicial review of President's Rule proclamations for the duration that this amendment stood.

The 44th Amendment Reopens the Door

The Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978 reversed this position. It removed the finality clause that the 38th Amendment had inserted, along with introducing other restrictions and safeguards against the abuse of emergency-type powers. By deleting the provision that shielded the President's satisfaction from challenge, the 44th Amendment implied that the satisfaction behind an Article 356 proclamation was no longer beyond the scope of the courts. This restored the constitutional possibility of judicial review, though it was the Bommai case, sixteen years later, that worked out how such review would actually operate in practice.

The S.R. Bommai Judgment (1994)

In S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, the Supreme Court examined the extent to which courts could review a Presidential Proclamation issued under Article 356. The Court's holding is best understood as a set of connected propositions that together define the modern law on the subject.

Why the Judgment Matters

The Bommai judgment placed a meaningful check on the arbitrary exercise of power under Article 356. By making the proclamation justiciable and putting the burden of proof on the Union government, it raised the cost of using President's Rule for purely political ends, such as dismissing a state government simply because a different party controls the Centre. At the same time, by limiting courts to examining relevance rather than reassessing the wisdom of the President's decision, the judgment avoided converting every dismissal into a full merits appeal before the judiciary. This balance — proclamations can be reviewed, but review is confined to relevance and good faith — has shaped how Article 356 has been used since 1994, alongside the safeguards already written into the 44th Amendment.

How Article 356 Connects to Neighbouring Provisions

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• Know the constitutional text of Article 356 and the role of the Governor's report versus the President's independent satisfaction.
• Remember the sequence: 38th Amendment (1975) made satisfaction final → 44th Amendment (1978) removed that finality → S.R. Bommai (1994) laid down the judicial review framework.
• Note that Article 356 has been invoked well over a hundred times since 1950, making it a frequently tested constitutional-practice fact.

Mains

• Discuss the Bommai case as a landmark in Centre-state relations and federalism (GS2).
• Analyze how judicial review of Article 356 balances Union authority under Article 355 with the autonomy of elected state governments.
• Evaluate whether the Bommai safeguards have been adequate to prevent misuse of President's Rule in subsequent decades.

FAQ

Q1. What is the S.R. Bommai case about? It is a 1994 Supreme Court judgment that decided whether, and how, courts can review a Presidential Proclamation imposing President's Rule under Article 356.

Q2. Can courts really overturn a President's Rule proclamation? Yes. Under the Bommai propositions, if the President's satisfaction is shown to rest on irrelevant material, malafide intent, or perversity, the court can strike down the proclamation and restore the dismissed government.

Q3. Why was judicial review of Article 356 in doubt before 1978? Because the 38th Amendment Act, 1975 had made the President's satisfaction under Article 356 final and conclusive, barring courts from questioning it on any ground.

Q4. Does the Bommai judgment let courts second-guess every decision to impose President's Rule? No. Courts examine only whether relevant material existed and whether the decision was made in good faith; they do not reassess the correctness or sufficiency of that material.

Q5. How does secularism relate to Article 356? The Supreme Court in Bommai held that secularism is part of the Constitution's basic structure, so anti-secular acts by a state government can be a valid ground for invoking President's Rule.

Quick Revision

• Article 356: President's Rule for "failure of constitutional machinery" in a state.
• 38th Amendment (1975): made President's satisfaction final and non-justiciable.
• 44th Amendment (1978): removed that finality, reopening the door to judicial review.
• S.R. Bommai (1994): proclamation is justiciable; satisfaction must rest on relevant material; burden on Centre; courts can restore dismissed governments.
• Assembly should be dissolved only after Parliament approves the proclamation.
• Secularism (basic structure) can be a ground for President's Rule.
• Article 356 used 132+ times in the Constitution's first 74 years (till April 2024).

Sources

• Constitution of India — Article 356
• Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India — Legislative Department
• Supreme Court of India — Judgments

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.

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