In Search of the Theory of Constitutional Machinery Failure (Emergency) Models in India and Pakistan: a Comparative Exploration

Abstract

In spite of a contextual and constitutional affinity, Comparative Constitutional Law has been an unexplored area in South Asia. The article relates to one form of Constitutional Emergency in India and Pakistan - Constitutional Machinery Failure Emergency in the provincial units, which has a colonial past and an oppressive present. With identical provision in the constitutions of India and Pakistan, it sanctions almost unfettered power to the centre to declare an emergency relating to Constitutional Machinery Failure: one of the most abused provisions of Indian and Pakistani Constitutional Polity. The unique system of Constitutional Machinery Failure has also gone through huge changes, at times influenced by each other, scaling the modification of Emergency; the article also tries to conceptualize Constitutional Machinery Failure Emergency in India and Pakistan.