The Crisis of Democratic Order Test - 1

On 12 June 1975, Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court passed a judgment declaring Indira Gandhi’s election to the Lok Sabha invalid. This order came on an election petition filed by Raj Narain, a socialist leader and a candidate who had contested against her in 1971. The petition, challenged the election of Indira Gandhi on the ground that she had used the services of government servants in her election campaign.

Newspapers like the Indian Express and the Statesman protested against censorship by leaving blank spaces where news items had been censored. Magazines like the Seminar and the Mainstream chose to close down rather than submit to censorship. Many journalists were arrested for writing against the Emergency.

In May 1977, the Janata Party government appointed a Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice J.C. Shah, retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India.

The response of the government was to declare a state of emergency. On 25 June 1975, the government declared that there was a threat of internal disturbances and therefore, it invoked Article 352 of the Constitution.

On the night of 25 June 1975, the Prime Minister recommended the imposition of an Emergency to President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. He issued the proclamation immediately. 

The Janata Party and its allies won 330 out of the 542 seats in the Lok Sabha; Janata Party itself won 295 seats and thus enjoyed a clear majority. In north India, it was a massive electoral wave against the Congress. 

It retained many seats in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Orissa and virtually swept through the Southern States. There are many reasons for this. To begin with, the impact of the Emergency was not felt equally in all the States.

On 25 June 1975, the government declared that there was a threat of internal disturbances and therefore, it invoked Article 352 of the Constitution. 

The middle castes from north India were beginning to move away from the Congress and the Janata party became a platform for many of these sections to come together. In this sense, the elections of 1977 were not merely about the Emergency.  

After coming to power in 1977, the Janta Party appointed a Shah Commission headed by Justice J.C. Shah, retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, to inquire and look into various aspects of abuse of authority, malpractices and the excesses committed during the period of Emergency.