External emergency
Topic: Emergency Provisions and President's Rule · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
An external emergency is a national emergency under Article 352 proclaimed on the ground of war or external aggression, whether actual or threatened. An emergency proclaimed on the ground of armed rebellion is an internal one. The difference matters for fundamental rights. Since the 44th Amendment (1978), only an external emergency suspends Article 19 freedoms automatically under Article 358.
Example
The emergencies of 1962 (Chinese aggression) and 1971 (war with Pakistan) were both proclaimed on the ground of external aggression, so they were external emergencies.
Don't confuse with
- Article 359 order: it can be issued in both external and internal emergencies. It does not suspend the rights themselves. It only suspends the right to go to court to enforce the rights named in the order, and Articles 20 and 21 can never be named.