The Background of Emergency 1975
The Background of Emergency
Emergency is one of the darkest and most controversial
periods in the history of Indian politics. It was imposed by the Smt. Indira Gandhi ruled Congress Government on 25th June 1975. It lasted
for 19 months. The Emergency
has been widely condemned for its curtailment of civil liberties, arrests of
Indira Gandhi’s political opponents, and censorship of the press.
In order to understand the emergency period better,
it is necessary to understand the situations that led to the declaration of the
emergency and beginning of the most evil period in the history of Indian
Politics.
This document is divided in five years (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1975).
(1)
Year 1971
· For the first time the Lok Sabha
elections were preponed. Elections were to be held in 1972 originally.
· Indira Gandhi’s Congress(R) won 352 seats in Lok Sabha.
(1.1) Bangladesh
Crisis
· After the creation of Pakistan, it
was divided in two parts i.e. East
Pakistan and West Pakistan.
· The languages of East Pakistan and
West Pakistan were Bangla and Punjabi, Sindhi, Baloch respectively.
· In March 1948, Mohammad Ali
Jinnah declared Urdu as National Language of Pakistan.
· This decision created unrest in East
Pakistan.
· Protest against the decision began in
East Pakistan under the leadership of Sheikh
Mujib-Ur-Rehman.
Sheikh Mujib-Ur-Rehman
· In 1970,
General Yahya Khan, who became
military ruler after General Ayub Khan,
announced the first general elections in Pakistan.
· The election competition was between
two parties i.e. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s Pakistan
Peoples, Party (West Pakistan) and Sheikh
Mujib-Ur-Rehman’s Awami League (East Pakistan).
· The total seats in the National Assembly (Parliament) were 300
out of which 162 seats were in East Pakistan.
· Yahya Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
had deal that after becoming Prime Minister, he would appoint Yahya Khan as President.
· Bhutto promised basic human social
necessities (रोटि, कपड़ा और मकान) to all citizens.
· Sheikh Mujib Ur Rehman promised to
establish federal constitution in order to end discrimination to East Pakistan.
· He also promised to give Bangla
language a national status.
(1.1)(a) Result of Elections and
Aftermath
· 99% seats in East Pakistan were won by
Sheik Mujib’s party Awami League.
· Sheikh Mujib won 160 seats.
· Yahya Khan did not accept the
elections verdict as he never believed Bengalis.
· In January 1971, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Yahya Khan visited East
Pakistan to convince Mujib not to form government.
· But, Mujib persisted to form Federal
government.
· Yahya Khan did not consider Mujib’s
demand and refused to call the National Assembly (Parliament).
· He declared Bhutto as Prime Minister
of Entire Pakistan.
· This led to Civil Disobedience
Movement in March 1971.
· The movement was led by Sheikh Mujib.
· He declared ‘Swatantra Bangladesh’.
· Yahya Khan launched ‘Operation Search light’ to kill every
Bangla protesters.
· In order to save their lives, Bangla
people came to India.
· They formed their liberation army
called ‘Mukti Vahini’.
· The purpose of this organization was
to fight for the liberation of East Pakistan.
· The news of the mass migration spread
like fire in entire the nation.
· The problem became very serious for
the Indian Government.
· Smt. Gandhi was not able to take
decision on this matter as India had already faced 2 major and 1 minor war.
· USA was also in full support of
Pakistan.
· So only thing she could do was
supporting Bangladesh financially and training the Mukti Vahini.
· In August 1971, Foreign Minister Swaran
Singh visited USSR and met Indian ambassador D.P. Dhar.
· USSR approached India for friendship
treaty.
· Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Secretary General of USSR Leonid Brezhnev signed a 20
Years Friendship Treaty.
9th August, 1971 -
Signing of the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation
· Now India was very confident to fight
the war as USA and China could not do anything.
· Smt. Gandhi asked General Sam Manekshaw that when the war to be declared.
· General Sam Manekshaw said that the war must be fought in
the favorable time of India i.e. winter as China would not help Pakistan due to
snowy Himalayas and Pakistan would not fight in Kashmir.
· So the war on Western Front would be
fought in some areas of Rajasthan and Kutch and Army’s entire focus would be on
East Pakistan.
· On December 3rd, Yahya Khan launches missiles on Bhuj Airbase and war was declared.
· On December
6th, India recognized Bangladesh as an Independent Nation.
· By December 13th, Indian Army captured Dhaka.
· On December 16th, General Niazi of Pakistan surrendered with 93,000 soldiers to Indian army.
Lt Gen Niazi signing
the Instrument
of Surrender under the gaze of Lt Gen Aurora . Standing
immediately behind from L to R: Vice Admiral Krishnan,
Air Marshal Dewan, Lt Gen Sagat Singh, Maj Gen JFR Jacob (with
Fg Offr SS Krishnamurthy peering
over his shoulder). Veteran newscaster, Surojit
Sen of All India Radio, is
seen holding a microphone on the right.
· After 10-15 days of war ended,
Pakistan released Sheik Mujib-ur-Rehman.
· Hence Bangladesh was created and
recognized as an independent nation.
· Note:
On 2-3 July 1972, Shimla Agreement was signed between Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Indira Gandhi. (The document of agreement was prepared by Principal Secretary PN Haksar).
(2)
Year 1972
(2.1) 28th
Amendment
· Article 314 was abolished which gave special privileges to Civil
Servants.
· Article 312A
was added which gave power to
parliament to change the powers of civil servants.
(2.2) 29th Amendment
· The Two Kerala Land Reforms Acts were added in
the 9th Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
· The two Land Reforms Act were:
· The Kerala Land Reforms(Amendment) Act,1969
· The Kerala Land Reforms(Amendment) Act, 1971
(2.3) 30th
Amendment
· Article 133
: Civil Appeals
· Earlier, if the case of more than ₹ 20,000 then it can be moved to Supreme Court, BUT
According to the Amendment:
· Any case will be transferred to Supreme Court when
there is Substantial Question of Law, which means, “Any case will be transferred to Supreme Court when more the 2 High
Courts have passed different judgments on the same case.”
(2.4) 31st
Amendment
· Seats of LOK SABHA were increased from 525 to 545.
(3) Year 1973-74
(3.1) Situations
· Bangladesh’s 1 Crores Refugees
· Government’s budget went into deficit
in order to feed 1 crore more population, which were Bangladeshi refugees.
· War also contributed in deficit in
Defence and entire Financial Budget.
· Oil crisis in the world led to oil inflation in India.
· Less Rain Fall led to famine in many regions of the country.
· Inflation was
at its peak due to famine.
(3.2) Three Challenges faced by Indira Gandhi
Three Challenges
a) Gujarat (1973-74)(Movement led by Morarji Desai)
b)Bihar (1974) (Movement led by Jay Prakash Narain)
c)Railway Strike (1974) (Movement led by George Fernandes)
(3.2) (a) Gujarat (December 1973-74)
· During 1973-74 the Chief Minister of Gujarat was Chimanbhai Patel.
· In December 1973, State Government
increased the fees of hostel mess.
· This led to protest against the state
government by the students.
· Morarji Desai
directly participated in the protest.
· University was closed. Roads were
blocked.
· Morarji Desai
demanded the dissolution of the government.
· Within 3-4 days Chimanbhai Patel resigned and the government was dissolved.
· Indira Gandhi
temporarily dissolved the government.
· But Morarji Desai demanded for re-election.
· On 12th March 1974, Morarji Desai again sat on hunger
strike.
· On 16th March 1974, the Gujarat legislature was
permanently dissolved.
· This entire movement was called “Nav Nirmaan Andolan (नव निर्माण आन्दोलन)”
Note: During the movement, when chief minister was not resigning, so the protesters decided
to make the MLAs resign, so that the government would fell automatically.
Note: After knowing this action of the protesters, Indira Gandhi did 33rd Constitutional Amendment, which said, “If any MLA/MP resigns so it will be
the duty of Speaker of Vidhan Sabha/Lok Sabha/Chairman of Rajya Sabha that
he/she will not accept the resignation until it is confirmed that the person
has resigned on his/her own intend (इच्छा).”
(4) Year 1974
(4.1)
Bihar
· Same movement as Gujarat was started
in Bihar on 18 February 1974.
· An organization was formed called Bihar Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti(BCSS)
( बिहार छात्र संघर्ष समिति).
· The leader of this organization was Lalu Prasad Yadav.
· They gave ultimatum to the government that, if the Chief Minister would not resign till 18th March 1974, they would protest outside of the Vidhan Sabha.
Indira Gandhi got this news and she took bold steps.
· On 18th March, during the protest 3 students died and students realised that they need a strong leader so they invited Jay Prakash Narain to join and lead the protest.
The Total Revolution movement took place under the leadership of Jay Prakash Narain.
· Jay Prakash Narain (JP) laid down two conditions to become the leader of the
movement:-
i)
This protest would be held nationwide.
ii)
The aim of the protest would be to change the entire administration and
this movement would be called Sampoorn
Kranti (सम्पूर्ण क्रांति).
· This led to the strong protest by the
people in Bihar.
· On 1st November 1974, JP
met Indira Gandhi in New Delhi for
the solution of this problem.
· Indira Gandhi said that if this problem is specific
to Bihar, she would dissolve the Legislative Assembly, but this protest should
not spread nationwide. However, the JP
said he would expand the protest nationwide and the two parties failed to reach
a compromise, and the meeting ended.
(4.2) Railway Strike
· There was an association in Railways
called All India Railway Men Federation
(AIRF).
· Its president was George Fernandes.
· The initial aim of movement was to
reduce the working hours of locomotive staff to 8Hrs and after 8Hrs next shift
must start.
· This movement held from 8th May to 27th May.
· 70%people
participated in this movement.
· Entire railways were stopped.
· On 27th May strike was ended without any outcomes.
Note: It is said that then President of India Shri V.V. Giri had sympathy with the
railway protesters as he was also from the background of trade union.
1974
Nuclear Test (Pokhran), 18th May
DR Fakhruddin Ali
Ahmad
(5) Year 1975
|
Gujarat and Delhi |
|
· In February-March, 1975, Jay
Prakash Narain decided to protest against. · On 6th April 1975, Morarji Desai went on hunger strike
against for not conducting the elections in Gujarat which were very late.
· Finally, it was decided that
elections in Gujarat, would be held
on 10th June 1975. (5.1) Situations
Gujarat Elections Result (Congress v/s AllianceCongress lost) Allahabad High Court Decision(Raj Narain v/s Indira Gandhi) (5.1)(a) Background of Decision of Allahabhad
High Court · In 1971, Indira Gandhi won the Lok
Sabha elections from of Rae Bareilly with 1 Lakhs votes. His opponent was Raj Narain, Socialist leader.  · Raj Narain appealed a petition at
Allahabad High Court that Indira Gandhi’s election is invalid because she had
used wrong means. · 14 Accusations (Blames) were imposed
on Indira Gandhi by Raj Narain. · He imposed accusations on the basis
of Representation of Peoples’ Act 1951,
which states that on what grounds an election of candidate can be declared
invalid. · Representation of Peoples’ Act 1951 has 2 clauses: - Section
123[7] & Section 8[A]. · Name of Judges was Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha.  · Advocate of Indira Gandhi in this case was Nani
Palkhiwala.  Nani Palkhiwala · Advocate of Raj Narain in this case was Shanti
Bhushan.  Shanti Bhushan Note: When emergency was declared by Indira Gandhi, Nani Palkhiwala resigned as lawyer of
Indira Gandhi in Raj Narain v/s Indira Gandhi case. (5.1)(b) Case presented by Raj Narain in Allahabad
High Court · Out of 14 allegations, 12 were
declared invalid but 2allegations were considered valid. · Those 2 allegations were:-
i) Election Agent of Indira Gandhi was Yash Pal Kapoor. He first resigned from
his government service and then took charge as election agent of Indira Gandhi.
BUT the reason due to which this
issue was taken into consideration was that, Yash Pal Kapoor took charge as election agent on 7th January 1971 but
officially resigned from his government service on 13th January 1971, which means he worked in election
campaign as government servant for 6
days from 7th January to
12th January.  Yashpal Kapoor i) When Indira Gandhi came to Allahabad
for a political rally, a stage was prepared with the help of government
officers, which means she took advantage of government officials order to win
elections.
And according to Representation of People’s Act’s
sections: v Section 123
says on what grounds an election can be held invalid. v Clause 7 of Section 123 says that if it is found
that government officials were involved in the campaigning the election of the
candidate will be held void and invalid. v According to Representation of
People’s Act Section 123[7], Judge Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha declared Indira Gandhi’s 1971 Lok Sabha election
invalid. v Section 8[A] of
Representation of People’s Act has
detailed the punishment in such cases. According to Section 8[A] of the Representation of People's Act, “A convicted
person is suspended from contesting elections for 6 years”. (5.1)(c) Decision
of Allahabad High Court v Indira Gandhi’s
1971 Lok Sabha election was held invalid. v As she had used government means and
services in her election campaign so she had been barred (वर्जित)
from contesting any elections for 6
years from the date
of verdict i.e. 12th June
1975 to 12th June 1975. v 20 days were given to the party to
elect new Prime Minister or Indira Gandhi could also appeal to the Supreme Court.
(5.1)(d) After Decision scenarios(20thJune
- 24th June) v This verdict created the vacuum in
the entire nation and Indian politics. v At Prime Minister’s residence, Sanjay Gandhi, Bansilal (then Chief
Minister of Haryana), Siddharth Shankar
Ray (then Chief Minister of West Bengal)
were sat for a meeting regarding the verdict. v They advised Indira Gandhi not to resign. v On 20th June 1975, a big rally was addressed by Indira Gandhi at Boat
Club. Approx 10 Lakhs people attended the rally. She urged the people to
support her as nation is in danger. v In return, on 22th June 1975, opposition party organised a rally at New Delhi. It was organised by Jay Prakash Narain but he could not
attained the rally, so it was addressed by Morarji
Desai. v On 23th June 1975, Indira Gandhi appeared in Supreme Court
challenging the verdict of Allahabad High Court, demanding absolute stay on the
order. v On 24th June 1975, Supreme Court gave the verdict.
v Note: During this
period Supreme Court was on vacation and Indira Gandhi’s case was heard by
vacation bench Judge VR Krishnan Iyer.  VR Krishnan Iyer (5.1)(e) Verdict of Supreme Court v Judge Iyer stated as it was vacation
bench so he would give interlocutory (interim) decision and final verdict would
be given after the vacation. Verdict : · No absolute stay be given BUT · Partial stay would be given which
means that : Ø Indira Gandhi could work as Prime
Minister until final verdict is not given but she would be abstained to
participate in the proceedings of the parliament. Note: As Supreme Court gave the verdict Jay Prakash Narain announced that he
would address a rally on 25th
June, at New Delhi. (6) Declaration of Emergency· On the 25th June 1975, Jay
Prakash Narain addressed a big rally at New Delhi urging the government
officials including police and army must not follow the orders of the
government. · He gave time till 29th June
to Indira Gandhi to resign if she would fail to do so, he would protest of
uncertain time (अनिश्चित समय). · Indira
Gandhi called a meeting of her advisers at her residence. · Her advisers were: Sanjay Gandhi, Siddharth Shankar Roy(the CM of
West Bengal), RK Dhawan(secretary of Indira Gandhi) and P.N.
Dhar(then Principal Secretary) · Indira Gandhi asked
Siddharth Roy about further actions.
He deeply went through the constitution and suggested Mrs. Gandhi to impose National Emergency. · He advised her to impose National Emergency as per Article 352 on the grounds of internal
disturbance as JP had appealed the
police and army not to follow government instructions that may lead to internal
crisis. · They both met the president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad for the
declaration the emergency. · They convinced the president to sign
the order of emergency which was prepared by P.N Dhar. · After the signature of President, the
emergency was declared around 10:30 pm. · All the opposition leaders including Jay Prakash Narain and Morarji Desai were arrested and kept in
Tihar Jail. (6.1) Post Emergency decalartion
actions · On 26th June 1975, at 6:00
am, Smt. Gandhi called cabinet meeting at her residential office. · Out of 17 ministers, 8 ministers were
present rest were not at New Delhi. · They were informed about the
emergency order. · Except Swaran Singh, not other cabinet minister asked a single question. · Swaran Singh
asked that on what grounds leaders were arrested and he was given replied that
on the grounds of MISA (Maintenance of
Internal Security Act).
Note: After the meeting Sanjay Gandhi said to I.k. Gujral (Information & Broadcasting
minister) that to show him all the news to him before spublishing in the
newspaper but he refused to do so.
Next day, Sanjay Gandhi ordered I.K Gujral to arrest BBC Journalist Mark Tally but he again refused to do so. Next day
he was replaced as Minister by Vidya
Charan Shukla.
Amendments
38th Amendment, 39th Amendment, (7.1) 38th Amendment :- a) Power of Ordinance ·
Clause 4
added in Article 123 ·
Clause 4
added in Article 213 ·
Clause 4
added in Article 239(B) v
All the clauses
summarized as, “Whenever an ordinance would be passed there would be no
judicial review for the ordinance in the Supreme Court.” v
If government
imposes any emergency (National, State or Financial) there would be No Judicial Review in Supreme Court,
High Court or any other courts. · Clause 4 was added in Article 352 as per this: ü More than 1 declaration of emergency could be
implemented or work together. ü The government can declare an emergency other than in
the event of war or there is the suspicion of internal conflicts in the nation.
b) Amendments in Representation of People’s Act
Clause123 (7) & 8(A)
v
After amendment, clause 123(7) said, “If any government officer
helps a politician in his/her election campaign so it would not be considered
as contempt by the court.” And “The joining and resignation date of an officer would
be taken in consideration which would be approved by the government.” v
After amendment, clause 8(A) said, “If anyone found guilty in
the elections malpractices and contempt by the court, he/she can seek the grant
pardon from the President. This would be enacted retrospectively (These
amendments will apply as if they were in the Constitution from the beginning
which means persons who were found guilty before this amendment could also went
to President for grant pardon).”
(7.2) 39th Amendment
:- ·
Article 71 was Amended (after
amendment this article states that, “If
in Presidential Elections, voters are less or any Vidhan Sabha is dissolved
during elections, so the Presidential elections would be postponed and would be
conducted on the decided time.”) ·
Clause A added in Article 329(after amendment this article states that, “Any dispute regarding Prime Minister,
Speaker of Lok Sabha so the dispute would not be discussed in any High Courts
or Lower Courts. It would be discussed only in the Supreme Court.”) ·
Addition of 9th Schedule
(7.3) 40th Amendment ·
Article 297(Enable Parliament to make laws with respect to Exclusive
Economic Zone and vest the mineral wealth with Union of India.) ·
9th Schedule amended (Representation of People’s Act & Election laws, Land
Reform, MISA and COFEPOSA were included to these act
under 9th Schedule of the
constitution.)
(7.4)
41st Amendment · Article 316 was Amended.(Raise Retirement Age Limit of Chairmen and
Members of Joint Public Service Commissions and State Public Service
Commissions from 60 to 62. No case can be filed against Prime Minister, Governor, President, even
after they demit office)
(7.5) 42nd Amendment · 7th Schedule was Amended(Transfer of 5 subjects from state list to concurrent
list i.e. Education, Forest, Weights & Measures, Protection of Wild Animals
& Birds and Administration of Justice) · Article 51A (Addition of 10 Fundamental Duties of Citizens
in recommendations of Swaran Singh Committee) · Curtailed the
Judicial Review power of the High Courts.
(8) Hearing in Supreme Court against the verdict of High Court · Indira Gandhi’s Advocate
said to Judge AN Ray that he could
not proceed the case further as the election rules amendments have been passed
retrospectively according to which the, “Judiciary have no power to conduct a hearing against the
elections of Prime Minister, President and Vice President.”
· Hence the case was closed with the cancellation of the verdict of Allahabad High Court.
 Chief Justice AN RAY (9) Government Actions during Emergency · Censorship and Media
Control · Sterilisation
Campaign (A controversial part of this period was a large-scale
sterilisation drive for population control. Launched in 1975, this campaign led
to 26.42 lakh sterilisation procedures in 1975–76. By 1976–77, the number rose
to 81.32 lakh. Over two years, a total of 1.07 crore sterilization) · Operations were conducted. Several states tied access to basic
amenities — food rations, housing, jobs, loans — to compliance with
sterilisation requirements.
· Mass arrests of the protestors against the emergency. |
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