What is President's Rule, and when can it be imposed?

President’s Rule is the takeover of a state’s administration by the Centre when the constitutional machinery in that state fails. It is imposed under Article 356.

It can happen when:

• The Governor reports that the state government cannot be run according to the Constitution, for example when no party can form a government or the government collapses.
• A state fails to follow valid directions given by the Union government.

What happens during President’s Rule:

• The state government is dismissed, and the Governor runs the state on behalf of the President, with the help of advisers.
• The state assembly is either suspended or dissolved.
• Parliament makes laws for the state.

The proclamation must be approved by both houses of Parliament within two months. It lasts six months and can be extended in six-month steps up to a maximum of three years, with extra conditions after one year. In the 1994 S. R. Bommai case, the Supreme Court held that the proclamation is open to judicial review and that a government’s majority should be tested on the floor of the assembly, which has made misuse harder.