Emergency: The Darkest Chapter In Indian Constitutional History

Written By: Naveen Talawar

Introduction

India is a federal country of its kind it acquires unitary features during an emergency, due to this reason Dr.BR. Ambedkar has called the Indian federal system unique because it becomes entirely unitary during an emergency. An emergency may be defined as a situation that arises due to the failure of the government machinery which causes or demands immediate actions from the authority. Certain provisions have been provided under the Indian constitution for dealing with extraordinary situations that may threaten the peace, security, stability, and governance of the country.

Emergency provisions under our constitution

The provisions are contained in part XVIII of the constitution from Articles 352 to 360, the rationality behind the incorporation of these provisions in the constitution is to safeguard and protect the security, integrity, and stability of the country. There are three types of extraordinary situations that are provided in our constitution. These are as follows:

1. Article 352 provides for the imposition of a national emergency, and accordingly, the president can impose this type of emergency when there is a grave threat to the security of India or any of its territories due to war, external aggression, or internal rebellion.
2. Article 356 provides for the imposition of an emergency due to failure in the constitutional machinery in the state. It is popularly known as a presidential rule or state emergency 
3. The third type of emergency which has been provided under Article 360 of the constitution is a financial emergency.

The emergency of 1975: the darkest phase in India’s democratic history

India is regarded as one of the largest democratic countries in the world. But there was a time in history, that this democracy which we feel proud of was stomped. It was in the year 1975 when the emergency was imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, never in the history of independent India, we have faced such a constitutional crisis as during the 21 months between 1975-1977 when a state of emergency was declared across the country on the grounds of internal disturbance.

25th June 1975 is often regarded as one of the darkest phases in the Indian democracy as many of the civil liberties were curtailed, many of the opposition were arrested and even the press was censored to a prohibitive extent.

What had happened?

In the 1971 parliament elections, Prime Minister Mrs. Gandhi won a landslide victory in her constituency of Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh against Raj Narain. He filed a petition in the Allahabad high court and brought 14 charges of corrupt practices against her, which included bribery, corruption, lavish expenditure and illegal soliciting of votes, etc. And for the first time in history, the high court has cross-examined the prime minister and Mrs. Gandhi was found guilty. Justice JM Sinha declared her elections to be null and void and also banned Mrs. Gandhi from contesting any election for the next 6 years and the party was given 20 days to find a replacement for Indira Gandhi as prime minister.

The matter was then taken before the supreme court of India, on behalf of Raj Narain it was argued that Mrs. Gandhi has approached the supreme court with “unclean hands” as her lawyer misrepresented the Allahabad High Court to grant the unconditional 20 days stay order to approach the Supreme Court. This contention was rejected by Justice Krishna Iyer, who by granting conditional stay clarified that there was no legal embargo on Indira Gandhi continuing as PM but she was not allowed to take part in Loksabha proceedings.

Thereafter Indira Gandhi recommended the president to proclaim an emergency on the ground of internal disturbance, in order to protect the prime ministerial seat, and the president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed did so immediately and on 25th of 1975 Indira Gandhi announced the imposition of the emergency on the all India radio, “The president has declared an emergency and there is no need to panic” were her exact words said in that radio broadcast. The whole emergency was a pre-planned action as the cabinet ministers were not informed about it and they got information only a few hours ago. Many leaders, activists, and trade unions who were against congress were arrested, there was the suspension of the elections and the power was cut for almost 2 days to prevent anything from printing informing the country. The newspapers couldn’t publish any article without the government’s approval. The magazines and media were censored, Which created chaos in the country 

Causes are given for emergency

The following were the causes which were given for the imposition of emergency :

1. Many of the revolts and protests were going on against the government in Bihar and Gujarat, which were led by students, labor organizations and unions, etc.
2. Some internal and political unrest was going on against Indira Gandhi government during the emergency period.
3. The Allahabad high court found Mrs. Gandhi guilty of malpractices doing elections was also another cause for imposing an emergency. 

Certain key- highlights surrounding emergency

1. During the period of emergency, protests, strikes, and public agitations were not allowed so around 1,11,000 people were arrested.
2. The fundamental rights of every citizen were suspended and the enforcement of these fundamental rights by the courts was also suspended until the emergency was in force.
3. Freedom of the press was also curtailed as every to be published had to go through the process of getting permission from the government as a result of this the Indian express held a silent protest and carried a blank page instead of an editorial.
4. The movie titled Aandhi was banned as the film was based on Indira Gandhi, and a movie named Kissa Kursi Ka, a bold spoof on the emergency was also banned and it was reported that all its prints were burned.
5. Many of the political leaders who were opposing the emergency and PM Indira Gandhi were arrested and sent to jail for several months.

Conclusion

This sudden emergency which was imposed by Indira Gandhi for her personal reasons in order to protect her prime ministerial seat is regarded as one of the darkest phases in the history of India as the people of India have suffered a lot from human rights violations to the forced mass sterilization campaign to the detention of political oppositions and activist to having no press freedom.

REFERENCES :

1. https://www.thehansindia.com/news/national/emergency-in-india-the-dark-phase-in-india-that-proved-indira-gandhis-dictatorship-692524
2. https://www.livehistoryindia.com/story/snapshort-histories-making-of-modern-india/emergencies-in-india/
3. https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/emergency-in-india-why-did-former-prime-minister-indira-gandhi-impose-it
4. https://knowlaw.in/index.php/2020/05/25/1975-emergency/
5. https://www.thehindu.com/specials/in-depth/the-emergency-imposed-by-indira-gandhi-government/article7357305.ece
6. https://northeasternchronicle.in/news/the-national-emergency-1975-darkest-phase-in-indias-democratic-history/
7. https://doij.org/10.10000/IJLMH.112032

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Keywords

Emergency, Constitutional History, Darkest Chapter In Indian Constitutional History, Emergency Constitutional History