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9. All the matters are disposed of accordingly with no order as to costs.

AHMADI, J.-I have had the advantage of perusing the views expressed by my esteemed colleagues P.B. Sawant, K. Ramaswamy and B.P. Jeevan Reddy, JJ. and while I am largely in agreement with the 'conclusions' recorded by K. Ramaswamy, J., I would like to briefly indicate the area of my agreement.

11. In a country geographically vast, inhabited by over 850 million people belonging to different religions, castes and creeds, majority of them living in villages under different social orders and in abject poverty, with a constant tug of war between the organised and the unorganised sectors, It is not Surprising that problems crop up time and again requiring strong and at times drastic State action to preserve the unity and integrity of the country. Notwithstanding- these problems arising from time to time on account of class conflicts, religious intolerance and socioeconomic imbalances, the fact remains that India has a reasonably stable democracy. The resilience of our Republic to face these challenges one after another has proved the peoples' faith in the political philosophy of socialism, secularism and democracy enshrined in the Preamble of our Constitution. Yet, the fact remains that the nation has had from time to time with increasing frequency to combat upheavals occasioned on account of militancy, communal and class conflicts, politico-religious turmoils, strikes, bandhs and the like occurring in one corner of the country or the other, at times assuming ugly proportions. We are a crisis-laden country; crisis situations created by both external and internal forces necessitating drastic State action to preserve the security, unity and integrity of the country. To deal with such extraordinarily difficult situations exercise of emergency powers becomes an imperative. Such emergency powers existed under the Government of India Act, 1935, vide Sections 93 and 45 of that enactment. However, when similar powers were sought to be conferred on the President of India by the Constitution, there, was a strong opposition from many members of the Constituent Assembly, vide Constituent Assembly Debates on draft Articles 277 and 277-A. Dr Ambedkar pacified the members by stating :