GK Question

polity medium fill_blank

Approval of National Emergency proclamation under Article 352 requires special majority in Parliament: majority of ______ of each House and two-thirds of members present and voting.

  1. members present
  2. total membership
  3. elected members
  4. party leaders

Answer: total membership

Special majority for Emergency approval: (a) Article 352(4): Emergency proclamation must be approved by both Houses by special majority: (i) Majority of total membership of each House, AND (ii) 2/3 of members present and voting, (b) Rationale: Ensure broad consensus for Emergency; prevent narrow majority from imposing crisis measures, (c) Comparison: Ordinary legislation requires simple majority; constitutional amendments require special majority; Emergency approval same high threshold as amendments, reflecting gravity of suspending normal constitutional functioning, (d) Historical context: During 1975-77 Emergency, approval obtained with opposition jailed; 44th Amendment retained special majority but added revocation safeguards (simple majority for revocation) to balance crisis response with democratic accountability. Illustrates calibrated design: high threshold for imposing Emergency, lower threshold for ending it, incentivizing crisis resolution over perpetuation.

Topic Emergency Powers - Article 352 Proclamation Approval Special Majority
Exam Relevance Emergency approval majority frequently asked in UPSC Prelims and SSC CGL Tier-2