45 years of National Emergency

Excellent study material for all civil services aspirants - begin learning - Kar ke dikhayenge!

  45 years of National Emergency

---

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

---

1. 45 years ago, on June 25, the central government led by Late Mrs. Indira Gandhi imposed the infamous National Emergency in the country. It lasted for 21 months and is considered to be one of the darkest phases of independent India.
2. It saw widespread human rights violations, censorship of the press, rampant arrest of dissenters etc. 
3. The decision to impose the Emergency is considered a response to the Allahabad High Court judgment in Raj Narain v. Indira Gandhi (delivered on 12 June 1975) wherein the election of Mrs. Gandhi (sitting Prime Minister at the time) was invalidated on counts of electoral malpractices and she was debarred from holding any elective office for six years.
4. The judgment sent shockwaves to the central government. It gave support to the J.P. Movement led by the opposition forces to ask for the resignation of Mrs. Gandhi.
5. Mrs. Gandhi made every possible attempt to save her Prime Ministership. On June 20, Mrs. Gandhi did the unthinkable and organised a rally wherein her entire family sat on the dais behind her. She remarked, 'My opponents are after my chair, they want to murder me and family.'
6. Mrs. Gandhi challenged the Allahabad High Court verdict before the Supreme Court, which was heard by a vacation bench consisting of Justice Krishna Iyer. In effect, Mrs. Gandhi could remain in office but not vote in the Parliament, till the election appeal was decided by the Supreme Court.
7. The stay order did not impress Mrs. Gandhi and she now had two choices before her. First, to either resign as the Prime Minister and appoint a titular PM (in reality her pawn) in her place. The second choice, was to continue in office and not resign.
8. It is believed that one of the factor influenced Mrs. Gandhi's decision. She is reported to have told Mr. Siddhartha Shankar Ray (then Chief Minister of West Bengal) that Indian Intelligence Agencies have informed her that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of USA is secretly supporting the JP Movement and US President Nixon wants to overthrow her government.
9. She considered Ray her legal advisor and asked him to study the Constitution and present a solution to stay in power. Interestingly, she did not consult the Law Minister.
10. Ray advised her to invoke Article 352 of the Constitution that allowed the President to declare a National Emergency on grounds of 'internal disturbance'. A proclamation under Article 352 was sent to the President Late Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed who signed it past midnight.

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

Join UPSC Self Prep course | Online Course (PT Gurukul)  | Covid Special Course | Join PT courses

* Content sourced from free internet sources (publications, PIB site, international sites, etc.). Take your own subscriptions. Copyrights acknowledged.