RAS question
Article 352 Emergency proclamation must be approved by Parliament within:
Correct answer: (D) One month.
An Article 352 Emergency proclamation must be approved by both Houses of Parliament within one month, unless the special Lok Sabha dissolution proviso applies.
Explanation
Article 352(4) makes parliamentary approval the condition for keeping a National Emergency proclamation alive. The proclamation has to be laid before each House of Parliament and, unless it merely revokes an earlier proclamation, it ceases to operate after one month if both Houses have not approved it by resolution. After the 44th Amendment, the approval window is one month, replacing the earlier two-month period. Article 352(6) explains the voting threshold: approval under clauses (4) and (5) needs a majority of the total membership of each House and at least two-thirds of members present and voting. Once approved, Article 352(5) allows the proclamation to continue for six months at a time, unless revoked.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Six months is the continuation period after approval under Article 352(5), not the deadline for initial parliamentary approval under Article 352(4).
- (B) Three months is not the approval window stated in Article 352(4), which fixes the ordinary limit at one month.
- (C) Two months reflects the pre-44th Amendment position, while the current Article 352(4) rule is one month.
Concept
This tests the Emergency provisions under Part XVIII, especially how the 44th Amendment tightened parliamentary control over National Emergency proclamations. RAS repeatedly asks such timelines because they separate constitutional safeguards from broad political theory.