Indira’s Emergency And The Precedent Of ‘Rubber Stamp’ President In India

If the president would have withhold the draft there would have still been a possibility of the emergency being imposed.

A lot of citizens in India are not aware of the powers the President of India possesses. A wrong decision by the highest position holder in the country led to one of the horrific chapters of not just Indian Politics but also Media “The National Emergency.”

Many feel the President’s job is merely accenting Bills and facilitating the civilian awards, but only a few know if the president had declined to accent the Emergency, 25th June 1975 would have been remembered forever for his stance of withholding the fundamental rights of democracy.

Where It All Began: Indira Gandhi had triumphantly won the 1971 Lok Sabha election from Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh defeating socialist leader Raj Narain, who later challenged her election alleging electoral malpractices and violation of the Representation of the People Act, 

It was alleged that Gandhi’s election agent Yashpal Kapoor was a government servant and that she used government officials for personal election-related work. While convicting Indira Gandhi of electoral malpractices, On June 12, 1975, the Allahabad High Court announced a verdict convicting India’s then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of electoral malpractices and prevented her from holding any elected post. Many believe the verdict was the trigger point for declaring an emergency. Soon enough, opposition leaders addressed a public rally, after calling for daily anti-establishment protests after the high court judgment.

A day before the emergency announcement, the Supreme Court granted a conditional stay on the high court ruling. It allowed Indira Gandhi to remain as prime minister until her appeal was reviewed.

Led by Jayaprakash Narayan(Founder Janta Party), a large protest took place in the national capital.

The Rubber Stamp: Around 11:15 p.m. on June 25, 1975, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed called for his secretary, K. Balachandran in his private room at his official residence (Rashtrapati Bhavan). The President handed his secretary a one-page letter from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi marked “Top Secret.” Regarding the Prime Minister’s discussion with the President earlier in the day, the letter said she was alerted of internal disturbances posed an imminent threat to India’s internal security. It requested an Imposition of Emergency under Article 352(1).

According to the Constitution Of India-

“If the President is satisfied that a grave emergency exists whereby the security of India or any part of the territory thereof is threatened, whether, by war or external aggression or armed rebellion, he may, by Proclamation, make a declaration to that effect in respect of the whole of India or of such part of the territory thereof as may be specified in the Proclamation Explanation A Proclamation of Emergency declaring that the security of India or any part of the territory thereof is threatened by war or by external aggression or by armed rebellion may be made before the actual occurrence of war or any such aggression or rebellion, if the President is satisfied that there is imminent danger thereof. 

If the President was satisfied with this demand, she would have preferred to have first consulted the cabinet, but there was no time to lose. Therefore, she was invoking a departure from the Transaction of Business Rules in to exercise her powers under Rule 12 thereof.

The president asked for his aide’s suggestion on the letter, which did not have the proposed proclamation attached.

Balachandran said that such a proclamation was constitutionally impermissible on more than one ground.

Then the president said that he wanted to refer to the Constitution. Balachandran retreated to his office to get a copy.

Meanwhile, the deputy secretary in the president’s Secretariat entered the room. The two officials soon got into a discussion about the constitutional rightfulness of the Prime Minister’s enigmatic proposal before they got back to President Ahmed with a copy of the Constitution.

Balachandran explained that the president’s satisfaction that internal disturbances posed a threat to internal security was constitutionally irrelevant. What the Constitution required was the advice of the Council of Ministers.

Balachandran gave up when the President said he wished to speak to Prime minister Gandhi. When he reentered the room around ten minutes later, President Ahmed informed him that R.K. Dhawan(Congress leader) had come over with a draft Emergency proclamation, which he had accented. 

The first thing he did after signing was consumed a tranquilizer (a drug used to reduce anxiety, fear, and tension) and went to sleep, probably unaware of how he made way for one of the biggest disasters to Indian Democracy.As mentioned in the Chronicles of Emergency by Gyan Prakash. 

Soon, there was a power cut to major newspaper offices and senior opposition leaders were arrested. LK Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Subramanian Swami were some of the known leaders on the list.

The next day the union cabinet ratified the decision to impose the Emergency.

The Press was highly critical of the move. The Times of India published an obituary for democracy, The Indian Express carried a blank editorial, while The Financial Express printed the Tagore poem ‘Where the mind is without fear’.

The Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) was amended through an ordinance to allow the detention of any person who may pose a political threat by voicing opposition, without a trial.

PM Indira Gandhi introduced her 20-point program for economic and social reform.

Twenty-six political organizations, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Jamaat-e-Islami, were banned.

Almost a month later both the houses approved the Emergency.

A 25-year-old Narendra Modi was part of the resistance and helped smuggle banned literature to Delhi. Subramanian Swamy disguised himself as a Sikh and escaped to the United States of America. Leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani, Arun Jaitley, Vijayaraje Scindia, Siddaramaiah, and K. Stalin were arrested for opposing the government. More than a lakh were arrested according to estimates.

Attack On Art: The dreadful emergency did not even spare artists Kishore Kumar’s songs were banned from playing on the All India Radio and Doordarshan. Artists who expressed their views against the Emergency later faced unofficial bans from government and state broadcasters.

A mandatory sterilization program was introduced by Sanjay Gandhi( son of Indira Gandhi) for population control. The program was revealed to have forced thousands of men to get vasectomies, often against their will.

The 42nd amendment, the Indian Constitution’s most controversial one, was passed. It reduced the power of the judiciary to determine the constitutional validity of laws and curtailed democracy by giving the Prime Minister’s Office unparalleled powers. This amendment changed the basic structure of the constitution.

Amid the chaos, In 1977 Indira Gandhi called for fresh Lok Sabha elections. The jailed Opposition leaders were released after spending months behind bars.

Soon the Lok Sabha was dissolved, and opposition leaders came together led by Morarji Desai who served as Minister for Revenue, Agriculture, Forest, and Co-operatives in the Ministry in congress’s first government. On 21st March 1977, the emergency was officially lifted

The newly formed Janata Party which is also the first Non-Congress government received a thumping majority of 345 seats and Morarji Desai became the first non-congress Prime Minister Of independent India.

46 years later Indira Gandhi’s Grandson and congress leader Rahul Gandhi in an interview accepted the emergency to be a mistake.

What If President Fakhrudin Ali Ahmed had declined to sign? 

If the president would have withheld the draft there would have still been a possibility of the emergency being imposed. Because if the President vetoes the bill, it is returned to the house in which it originated. That house may attempt to override the president’s veto, though a successful override vote requires the support of two-thirds of those voting. But the President could have sure delayed the process and maybe a massive outrage from the opposition could have eventually prevented the Emergency.