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Centre wields Art 355 against Hooda
Separate gurdwara panel row: Home Ministry sends its ‘advice’, CM says unaware
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 22
Days after the Attorney General conveyed to the Centre the Haryana Governor should not have assented to the state Government's Bill creating a separate gurdwara panel, the Home Ministry on Tuesday sent a communication to the Hooda government under Article 355 of the Constitution to ensure that the government functions in accordance with the Constitution.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda tonight denied having received any such communication. Randeep Singh Surjewala, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in the state, expressed confidence of having done the right thing under the Punjab Reorganisation Act 1966, setting up the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC). This has brought the state in conflict with Punjab, where CM Parkash Singh Badal has expressed his stout opposition to the move and termed it as an attempt to divide the Sikh community.

A communication under Article 355 is like an advice from the Centre and it would be incorrect to see it as a precursor to Article 356 that empowers the Centre to dismiss a state government, said sources. "It's not mandatory for the Centre to follow it up with Article 356," said a source. When the Centre sends an advisory under Article 355, it may not even mention the Article. The advice is worded as "take appropriate action."

Elections are due in Haryana in October. The BJP is on the ascendant after having won seven out of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

In the last decade, communication under Article 355 has been sent to at least four state governments on separate occasions but none of the state government, including Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riots, was dismissed. The BJP, then in power at the Centre, refused to evoke Article 356.

Similar "advice" was sent to Orissa, Karnataka and Kerala, all of which witnessed communal violence. Maharashtra was warned in 2008, but the then Home Minister Shivraj Patil did not confirm if the communication was under Article 355.

Article 355 says: "..It is the duty of the Union to protect states against external aggression and internal disturbance. The Union has to ensure the government of every state is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution".

Ready for any sacrifice: Chattha

Haryana Finance Minister HS Chattha said his government is prepared to go to any length to give Sikhs in the state the right to exercise control over their gurdwaras. "The state government stands by the Sikhs of Haryana. We are ready to make any sacrifice and face any consequences. Whatever we have done is within the legal framework and as per the Constitution," said Chattha.

Art 355: Take ‘appropriate action’

• Article 355 of the Constitution imposes a duty on the Union to protect the states from external aggression and internal disturbance, as well as the duty to ensure that the governments of the states are carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
• A communication under Article 355 is like an advice from the Centre and it would be incorrect to see it as a precursor to Article 356 that empowers the Centre to dismiss a state govt, said sources.
• When the Centre sends an advisory under Article 355, it may not even mention the Article. The advice is often worded as "take appropriate action."