Article 356 and President's Rule
The Last Resort
Article 356 empowers the President (acting on the Governor's report) to impose President's Rule in a state if constitutional governance has broken down. Post-Bommai, its use is significantly constrained: Parliament must approve it within two months, and courts can strike it down if the Governor's report was mala fide or without rational basis.
- Parliament must ratify President's Rule within 2 months (Rajya Sabha also has a role — preventing the ruling Lok Sabha majority from using it arbitrarily).
- President's Rule in a hung assembly is valid only when all avenues of government formation have genuinely been exhausted.
- Post-Bommai, the number of Article 356 impositions dropped sharply — from frequent use before 1994 to rare, judicially scrutinised use thereafter.
● Tracked since May 09, 2026 · last seen September 02, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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