Article 267

Contingency Fund of India and the States

Official heading: “Contingency Fund”

Check this article against the official editionAwaiting human legal review

Source edition: The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
Source locator: Part XII, Article 267, printed page 156
Last human source-link check: Not yet checked
Last human legal review: Not yet reviewed

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1. In One Sentence

Authorizes Parliament and State Legislatures to establish an imprest Contingency Fund at the disposal of the President or Governor for urgent, unforeseen expenditure.

2. What It Means in Everyday Language

Because democratic appropriation through Parliament or State Assemblies takes time, Article 267 creates a financial emergency mechanism: the Contingency Fund.

Clause (1) authorizes Parliament to establish by law a "Contingency Fund of India" in the nature of an imprest, placed at the disposal of the President.

The President can authorize immediate advances out of this fund to meet unforeseen expenditure pending subsequent authorization by Parliament through supplementary grants under Articles 115 or 116.

Clause (2) confers an identical power on State Legislatures to establish a "Contingency Fund of the State" placed at the disposal of the Governor for state contingencies.

3. Practical Illustrative Example

Everyday Scenario:

A major cyclone or earthquake strikes while Parliament is adjourned, requiring hundreds of crores of rupees for immediate humanitarian relief.

Core takeaway: Under Article 267(1), the President immediately releases advances from the Contingency Fund of India without waiting for Parliament to reconvene.

Illustrative Notice: The executive must lay the expenditure before Parliament at its next session to recoup the Contingency Fund via a supplementary appropriation bill.

4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions

Article 267 balances immediate crisis response with subsequent legislative accountability.

Imprest fund: Maintained at a fixed statutory corpus established by law.
Executive disposal: Operated by the President (Union) and Governors (States).
Mandatory recoupment: Advances must be subsequently approved and recouped through legislative supplementary grants.

5. Operative Constitutional Text

(1) Parliament may by law establish a contingency fund in the nature of an imprest to be entitled “the Contingency Fund of India” into which shall be paid from time to time such sums as may be determined by such law, and the said Fund shall be placed at the disposal of the President to enable advances to be made by him out of such Fund for the purposes of meeting unforeseen expenditure pending authorisation of such expenditure by Parliament by law under article 115 or article 116. (2) The Legislature of a State may by law establish a Contingency Fund in the nature of an imprest to be entitled “the Contingency Fund of the State” into which shall be paid from time to time such sums as may be determined by such law, and the said Fund shall be placed at the disposal of the Governor 1*** of the State to enable advances to be made by him out of such Fund for the purposes of meeting unforeseen expenditure pending authorisation of such expenditure by the Legislature of the State by law under article 205 or article 206.

Transcription for reference; compare with the linked official editionNot yet verified by a human legal reviewer

6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations

Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.

Sources & Citation Metadata

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Constitutional TextThe Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)Cited PDF page
Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part XII, Article 267, printed page 156 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.

Human legal review is pending; compare the text with the cited editionNon-partisan educational resource