Article 357

Parliamentary and Presidential Legislative Authority During President’s Rule

Official heading: “Exercise of legislative powers under Proclamation issued under article 356”

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Source edition: The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
Source locator: Part XVIII, Article 357, printed pages 214–215
Last human source-link check: Not yet checked
Last human legal review: Not yet reviewed

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1. In One Sentence

Governs how legislative powers of a State are exercised during President’s Rule, allowing Parliament to delegate law-making authority to the President.

2. What It Means in Everyday Language

When President’s Rule is imposed under Article 356, the State Legislative Assembly is either dissolved or placed in suspended animation, and its legislative powers vest in Parliament under Article 357.

Under clause (1)(a), Parliament may delegate this legislative power to the President, authorizing the President to enact "President’s Acts" for the State, usually in consultation with a consultative committee of Members of Parliament from that State.

Clause (1)(c) permits the President to authorize expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of the State when the Lok Sabha is not in session, pending subsequent parliamentary sanction.

Under clause (2) (amended by the 44th Amendment), laws made by Parliament or the President for the State during President’s Rule do not automatically expire when the proclamation ends; they continue in force until explicitly altered, repealed, or amended by the re-constituted State Legislature.

3. Practical Illustrative Example

Everyday Scenario:

While a State is under President’s Rule, urgent municipal municipal tax legislation is enacted through a President’s Act passed under delegated authority.

Core takeaway: Article 357 provides the constitutional machinery for continuing essential state legislation and budget authorizations during President’s Rule.

Illustrative Notice: Once an elected State Assembly reconvenes after elections, it has the democratic authority to repeal, alter, or keep any President’s Act passed during the emergency.

4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions

Article 357 regulates state governance continuities during periods of central administration.

Delegation to President: Parliament can delegate state law-making authority to the President.
Consolidated Fund authorization: Allows executive spending sanctions pending Lok Sabha reassembly.
Post-emergency continuity: Laws remain valid after President’s Rule until altered by the elected State Legislature.

5. Operative Constitutional Text

(1) Where by a Proclamation issued under clause (1) of article 356, it has been declared that the powers of the Legislature of the State shall be exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament, it shall be competent— (a) for Parliament to confer on the President the power of the Legislature of the State to make laws, and to authorise the President to delegate, subject to such conditions as he may think fit to impose, the power so conferred to any other authority to be specified by him in that behalf; (b) for Parliament, or for the President or other authority in whom such power to make laws is vested under sub-clause (a), to make laws conferring powers and imposing duties, or authorising the conferring of powers and the imposing of duties, upon the Union or officers and authorities thereof; (c) for the President to authorise when the House of the People is not in session expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of the State pending the sanction of such expenditure by Parliament. (2) Any law made in exercise of the power of the Legislature of the State by Parliament or the President or other authority referred to in sub-clause (a) of clause (1) which Parliament or the President or such other authority would not, but for the issue of a Proclamation under article 356, have been competent to make shall, after the Proclamation has ceased to operate, continue in force until altered or repealed or amended by a competent Legislature or other authority.

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 XVIII, Article 357, printed pages 214–215 • 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