Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council H K Patil on Saturday demanded amendment of the Constitution, to make the role of the Legislative Council clear during the imposition of President’s rule in the States.

He was speaking at a national seminar on ‘Executive Discretion and Article 356 of the Constitution of India-Critical Analyses’ organised by the Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC) in Bangalore.

“Some states in the country have two houses, the Assembly and the Council, and Karnataka is one such State where the President’s rule has been imposed at present. However, the role of the Council is not clear. Therefore, the Constitution should be amended in this regard,” he stressed.

Senior advocate of the Supreme Court, Mr A K Ganguly observed that a parliamentary committee should be constituted to review Article 356. Members of the inter-state board accepted recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission regarding the Article 356 but no recommendations had been taken into account. The Commission, constituted to review the Constitution, had also favoured modification of the Article 356 but the Parliament had not taken any decision so far, he observed.

“Debates regarding the relevance of the article and the circumstances leading to the imposition of President’s rule in the State needs to be debated vociferously and appropriate modifications should be suggested,” he said.

Governor Rameshwar Thakur said that different views were expressed in media regarding imposition of the Article 356. Differences of opinion did exist among the constitutional experts about the Article 356. Hence, efforts should be made to arrive at a consensus, he added.