Odisha News, Odisha Latest news, Odisha Daily - OrissaPOST
  • Home
  • Trending
  • State
  • Metro
  • National
  • International
  • Business
  • Feature
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • More..
    • Odisha Special
    • Editorial
    • Opinion
    • Careers
    • Sci-Tech
    • Timeout
    • Horoscope
    • Today’s Pic
  • Video
  • Epaper
  • News in Odia
  • Home
  • Trending
  • State
  • Metro
  • National
  • International
  • Business
  • Feature
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • More..
    • Odisha Special
    • Editorial
    • Opinion
    • Careers
    • Sci-Tech
    • Timeout
    • Horoscope
    • Today’s Pic
  • Video
  • Epaper
  • News in Odia
No Result
View All Result
OrissaPOST - Odisha Latest news, English Daily -
No Result
View All Result

Inside Delhi in the days of Emergency

Updated: June 26th, 2015, 19:12 IST
in Uncategorized
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare on Linkedin

By Dr. SN Misra

I was listening to Lal Krishna Advani and RK Dhawan in the recent TV interview Karan Thapar had with them marking the anniversary of Emergency. My thoughts flashed back to the scalding summer of 1975-1976, the time when I joined the Union finance ministry as a callow economist.
Dhawan, true to his reputation, now tries to paint his long-time woman boss, Indira Gandhi, as a real democrat though her son Sanjay Gandhi receives a mild admonishment from him. Lal Krishna Advani, on the other hand, is all guns blazing. My memories of the Emergency days was of reaching North Block invariably five minutes before 9.30am and never leaving the office before 6pm. Usually, the winter months witness woman employees sitting outside of their offices, most of them knitting wool in the lawns straddling South and North Block well beyond 2.30pm. Emergency did them in, and this spectacle became a thing of the past.
The subhji mandi area, which used to be the confluence of narrow lanes and unruly bulls, wore a serene picture of gentle orderliness. I was not married then, and hence things like the fear of the scalpel under the Sanjay Gandhi-inspired family planning programme did not scare me. The most exciting moment, however, was getting a copy of Seminar magazine from the printing press in the basement of Delhi University in the wee hours. I felt proud that such fearless journalism co-existed under the cover of darkness.
I also remember attending the mammoth gathering at Ramlila grounds, addressed by Sarvodya leader Jai Prakash Narayan. Now, I am quite surprised to hear Advani’s ambivalence to Thapar’s question as to whether JP asked the army to mutiny. JP was quite categorical that army and police should defy authority if and when illegal orders were given. Constitutional experts lament that this monumental indiscretion on his part gave the handle, or a logical excuse, to Indira Gandhi to put JP behind bars and turn a gathering adversity to her advantage.
My déjà vu came when Indira Gandhi lost the 1977 election, following which a huge gathering in Delhi school auditorium was addressed by the likes of Dr. Romila Thapar and Dr. Rajni Kothari. It was an interesting confluence between the left ideology of Thapar (JNU) and the liberal values of Dr. Kothari (DU). The end of the Emergency brought the two warring scholars to the same platform.
The summer of 1976 drew the role of Supreme Court to sharp focus when Shivakanta Shukla was picked up illegally in Jabalpur under the cover of Emergency. In a (4:1) judgment, the Supreme Court decreed that there was judicial relief to life and liberty when Emergency was proclaimed under Article 352. The most distressing was the reply of the then attorney general Niren De to a question put forward by Justice Hans Raj Khanna. It went like this: “There is no remedy if a police officer, solely because of a personal enmity, puts an end to the life of a law-abiding citizen during Emergency.” The lone loadstar of the day was Justice HR Khanna, who said, “Sanctity of life is not a gift of the Constitution. Illegal detention will be subject to judicial review.” He quoted Chief Justice Hughes to say, “A dissent in a court of last resort is an appeal to the brooding spirit of law, to the intelligence of the future date, when a later decision may possibly correct the error into which the dissenting judge believes the court to have been betrayed.”
Indeed, the four judges (which included Justice Bhagawati and YV Chandrachud) later admitted to their mistake. It was indeed a howler which Fali Nariman rightly termed “judicial pusillanimity at its worst”. Granville Austin is more metaphorical when he writes, “The judges would have been hung separately if they had hung together.” Justice Khanna was superseded after this judgment. In his book, Neither Roses Nor Thorns, he says he had confided in his sister Santosh, “I have prepared a judgment which is going to cost me the chief-justice-ship of India.”
Indira Gandhi was dictatorial and highhanded. The 44th amendment (1978) has now incorporated a provision in Article 359(1) as per which Right to Life and Liberty (Article 20 & 21) would not be suspended during Emergency. It’s a small tribute to the brooding spirit of a fearless judge who valued ‘good governance’ over ‘genuflection’, that we do not have the scorching summer of 1976 now.

Also Read

Odisha: Today’s pics

6 hours ago
world bank

India becomes fourth ‘most equal’ country globally

6 hours ago
ShareTweetSendShare
Suggest A Correction

Enter your email to get our daily news in your inbox.

 

OrissaPOST epaper Sunday POST OrissaPOST epaper

Click Here: Plastic Free Odisha

#MyPaperBagChallenge

Vandana Singh

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Aman Kumar Barisal

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Kamana Singh

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Anshuman Sahoo

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Archana Parida

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Mrutyunjaya Behera

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Narendra Kumar

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Spinoj Pattnaik

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Swarit Praharaj

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Nishikant Rout

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Lopali Pattnaik

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Priyabrata Mohanty

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Ramakanta Sahoo

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Sisirkumar Maharana

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Bijswajit Pradhan

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Matrumangal Jena

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Keshab Chandra Rout

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Manas Samanta

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Akshaya Kumar Dash

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Mandakini Dakua

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Surya Sidhant Rath

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Sarmistha Nayak

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Pratyasharani Ghibela

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Faiza Firdous

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Smitarani Sahoo

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Praptimayee Biswal

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Akriti Negi

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Jyotshna Mayee Pattnaik

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Debasis Mohanty

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Ipsita

December 12, 2019

Archives

Editorial

India’s Spy Shift

July 5, 2025

India’s espionage architecture is quietly shifting. The appointment of Parag Jain as the new chief of RAW comes at a...

Read more

Hungary Lessons

Hungary
July 2, 2025

Revolting against oppression and seeking freedom is ingrained in human nature, something that a repressive regime finds out sooner or...

Read more

New Democratic Face

Zohran Mamdani
July 1, 2025

US President Donald Trump, who had comfortably defeated his Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the recent presidential election and exuded...

Read more

Proof To Vote

Vote
June 30, 2025

Months ahead of the Assembly polls in Bihar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on 28 June launched a ‘special...

Read more
  • Home
  • State
  • Metro
  • National
  • International
  • Business
  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
Developed By Ratna Technology

© 2024 All rights Reserved by OrissaPOST

  • News in Odia
  • Orissa POST Epaper
  • Video
  • Home
  • Trending
  • Metro
  • State
  • Odisha Special
  • National
  • International
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Editorial
  • Entertainment
  • Horoscope
  • Careers
  • Feature
  • Today’s Pic
  • Opinion
  • Sci-Tech
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs

© 2024 All rights Reserved by OrissaPOST

    • News in Odia
    • Orissa POST Epaper
    • Video
    • Home
    • Trending
    • Metro
    • State
    • Odisha Special
    • National
    • International
    • Sports
    • Business
    • Editorial
    • Entertainment
    • Horoscope
    • Careers
    • Feature
    • Today’s Pic
    • Opinion
    • Sci-Tech
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Jobs

    © 2024 All rights Reserved by OrissaPOST