Supreme Court's Siren Call or Constitutional Conundrum?Legal Mitra

The recent blunt assertion from the Supreme Court regarding the ‘utter collapse of the constitutional mechanism in Manipur’ is just a casual observation or a constitutional crisis staring us in the face. Was it a Bat-Signal for invoking Article 356, aka the “President’s Rule,” where the state government takes a backseat and the Union government steps in to steer the ship. This isn’t a decision made over a round of rock-paper-scissors; it’s a serious move that even comes with its own judicial review.

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THE BARBERING SISTERS

Think of it as the political version of the emergency brake – pulled when a state can’t elect a head honcho, coalition collapses like a Jenga tower, elections are benched due to life’s unpredictability, or like present, when the state machinery forgets its constitutional manners. And just like a superhero deciding when to make an entrance, the President gets the nod from the Governor’s report or a reliable source to determine if President’s Rule is the need of the hour as per Article 356. But here’s the million-dollar question – what does this high-stakes constitutional showdown reveal about the democratic state of play, not just in Manipur, but across the sprawling Indian landscape?

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