State of Emergency in India

A state of emergency in India refers to a period of governance under an altered constitutional setup that can be proclaimed by the President of India, when he/she perceives grave threats to the nation from internal and external sources or from financial situations of crisis. Under the advice of the cabinet of ministers and using the powers vested in him largely by Part XVIII of the Constitution of India, the President can overrule many provisions of the constitution, which guarantee fundamental rights to the citizens of India and acts governing devolution of powers to the states which form the federation. In the history of independent India, there were three periods during which a state of emergency was deemed to have existed.

1. Between 26 October 1962 to 10 January 1968 during the India-China war — "the security of India" having been declared "threatened by external aggression".
2. Between 3 December 1971 to 1977 originally proclaimed during the Indo Pakistan war, and later extended along with the third proclamation — "the security of India" having been declared "threatened by external aggression".
3. Between 26 June 1975 to 21 March 1977 under controversial circumstances of political instability under the Indira Gandhi's prime ministership — "the security of India" having been declared "threatened by internal disturbances".

The President can declare three types of emergencies:

• National emergency
• State emergency
• Financial emergency