The Hindu : Centre, States differ on deployment of Army

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 14, 2003

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Centre, States differ on deployment of Army

By Our Special Correspondent

The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, with (from left) the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the Assam Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, the Kerala Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, and the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, at the ninth Inter-State Council Meeting of the Standing Committee, in New Delhi on Tuesday . — Photo: V. Sudershan

NEW DELHI MAY 13. The issue of the Centre's right to unilaterally deploy armed forces in the States divided the meeting of the Inter-State Council's standing committee here today. Several State Governments felt that the Army should be sent into a State only with the "concurrence" of the Government concerned.

The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, who chaired the meeting, told presspersons that he was in favour of provisions permitting the Centre to suo motu deploy troops. There had not been "a single instance" of the Centre taking unilateral action since Independence, he said. The situation was that the State Governments regularly made requests for the support of the armed forces which the Centre was not able to provide.

However, he said he could "conceive of a situation where the Central Government feels armed forces should be sent and the State Government does not agree. Article 355 of the Constitution charges the Central Government with the duty to protect States and where the use of armed forces — even if the State does not want it — is obligatory". Mr. Advani said that such a situation could arise "not only in Jammu and Kashmir but also in the east and northeastern States".

The meeting, convened to discuss 17 recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission (on Centre-State relations), ended with a decision to accept the Commission's recommendation that it would be desirable to have "prior consultation" with the State Government "before deploying Union armed forces suo motu in aid of civil power".

Another issue that divided the meeting today was the Centre's right to apply sanctions against States which failed to comply with its directions under Articles 256 and 257 of the Constitution, which are concerned with the construction and maintenance of roads, rail and waterways declared to be of national or military importance.

Article 365 empowers the Centre to apply sanctions against a Government which fails to comply with such directions. The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister recommended that Article 365 be deleted as it was "redundant". Mr. Advani, however, felt that since the Constitution gave the Centre the power to give directions there must also be a provision to take sanctions against non-compliance with the directions. Other States on the committee, including West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Jammu and Kashmir, felt that if a State failed to comply it should be referred to the Inter-State Council. The Inter-State council was set up in 1988 to deal with disputes between States and between the Centre and the States. Mr. Advani was amenable to the suggestion that the matter be referred to the Council.

Among the recommendations accepted by the standing committee, meeting for the ninth time since the Council was formed, was that Article 356 (President's Rule) "should be used as a measure of last resort". It was agreed, Mr. Advani said, that safeguards suggested in judicial pronouncements, as in the Bommai case (which calls for the ratification of the decision by both Houses of Parliament), should be incorporated in the Constitution.

However, no new legislation was planned for the coming session. Parties in Parliament would be consulted before a decision was taken.

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