The ELTE Centre for Social Sciences Institute for Sociology cordially invites you to
The curious cases of 121 Sub-national Emergency Invocations in India.
Lecturer: Panch Rishi Dev Sharma
Panch Rishi Dev Sharma is an Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Lucknow, India and a PhD Candidate at the Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Canada.
Date: 30. April 2026. 1 pm
Venue: ELTE Centre for Social Sciences, room B.1.15 (HU-1097 Budapest Tóth Kálmán utca 4.)
Online: Zoom link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86943903164?pwd=3Bbt9yse5PbF5Neby3Wt3qVKtaEgcS.1
Meeting ID: 869 4390 3164
Passcode: 523061
Abstract :
Reflecting on my recent publications at Asian Affairs, Sub-national Emergencies in India, 1950-2024, the talk focuses on central aggrandizement in form of sub-national emergency power. Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, the central government to determine ‘constitutional machinery failure in a province’ and acquire the executive and legislative powers of the provincial governments. The colonial government introduced an undefined and largely unrestrained sub-national emergency power to maintain a stronghold over provincial politics; the colonial provision for sub-national emergency was accommodated by the Constituent Assembly of India to ensure an enabled central government with an undefined and unrestrained power to impose emergency on provincial governments. The application of sub-national emergency powers (121 impositions between 1950 and 2024) has been a regular feature of Indian politics and federalism. This article/talk examines sub-national emergency invocations between 1950 and 2024 in reference to their grounds, justifications, and state of restraints by periodizing them in four different constitutional political environments: the hegemonic period (1950–1963), the praetorian period (1964–1988), the restraint period (1989–2013), and the return of hegemonic period (2014–2024) of sub-national emergency in India. By exploring 121 sub-national emergency invocations across different constitutional political environments, the article/talk exposes how Indian central governments have largely employed sub-national emergency power against provincial governments and politics to achieve different objectives. The article/talk reveals that the undefined constitutional nature and largely unrestrained political application of sub-national emergency powers across these periods question India’s claims of federalism, constitutionalism, and democracy.