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Article 356 will not be abrogated, says Advani

Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani today said his government is of the firm view that Article 356 should be retained in the Constitution, though with safeguards to prevent its misuse.

"The article is not an instrument of politics, but it has been used as an instrument of political mediation repeatedly," he said at the sixth meeting of the standing committee of the Inter-State Council in New Delhi.

He said frequent misuse of the article had resulted in the notion that it is not an instrument to protect the Constitution, but to distort it.

He said there was general agreement among various political parties that Article 356 should not be abrogated, but should be amended to provide safeguards against its misuse.

He said a consensus had emerged on four safeguards in previous meetings of the ISC.

One is that the governor's report recommending imposition of President's rule in a state should contain precise and clear statements of facts for invoking the article.

The others are that the document containing the statement of facts should be given to the errant state government, Parliament must approve it, and Parliament should also be empowered to review continuance of President's rule in any state.

The home minister said the R S Sarkaria Commission had recommended similar provisions for amendment of the article.

It was observed that the existing provisions to act under Article 356 either on the governor's report or otherwise would continue. He said the consensus document regarding amendments was considered in several meetings of the Inter-State Council.

The meeting was attended by the Union ministers for defence, commerce, finance, law and justice, and chemicals and fertilisers, besides the chief ministers of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, and Tamil Nadu.

UNI

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