RAS question
Financial Emergency under Article 360 has been proclaimed in India:
Correct answer: (A) Never.
Financial Emergency under Article 360 has never been proclaimed in India.
Explanation
Article 360 is the Constitution's provision for a Financial Emergency. It can be invoked only when the President is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the financial stability or credit of India, or of any part of its territory, is threatened. The key exam point is historical as well as constitutional: although the Constitution provides this emergency power, India has never actually used it. If such a proclamation were in operation, the President could issue directions requiring reductions in salaries and allowances, including for people serving the Union and the States, and even for judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts. That is why the answer is “Never”, not any crisis year.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) 1962 and 1975 are associated with other emergency contexts, but the given Article 360 Financial Emergency has never been proclaimed.
- (C) The 1991 economic crisis did not result in a Financial Emergency proclamation under Article 360.
- (D) The 2008 global financial crisis did not lead India to proclaim a Financial Emergency under Article 360.
Concept
This tests Emergency Provisions in Part XVIII, especially the distinction between the existence of Article 360 and its actual non-use. It recurs in RAS because emergency provisions are high-yield constitutional facts with close distractors built around well-known crisis years.