Political Science · Ch 13 — The Crisis of Democratic Order
Declaration of Emergency
Declaration of Emergency
The story of the Emergency begins not with a political decision, but with a court case. On 12 June 1975, Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court delivered a judgment that shook the government. He declared Indira Gandhi’s election to the Lok Sabha invalid. This ruling came on a petition filed by Raj Narain, a socialist leader who had contested against her in the 1971 election. Raj Narain’s petition argued that Indira Gandhi had used the services of government servants in her election campaign — a violation of election law.
The consequence of this judgment was severe. Legally, Indira Gandhi ceased to be a Member of Parliament. Since the Prime Minister must be an MP, she could not remain in office unless she was re-elected within six months. On 24 June, the Supreme Court granted her a partial stay: she could remain an MP until her appeal was decided, but she could not take part in the proceedings of the Lok Sabha. This created a constitutional and political deadlock.
Crisis and the government’s response
The opposition, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, seized the moment. They demanded Indira Gandhi’s resignation. On 25 June 1975, they organised a massive demonstration at Delhi’s Ramlila grounds. Jayaprakash announced a nationwide satyagraha for her resignation and went further — he asked the army, the police, and government employees not to obey “illegal and immoral orders.” This was a direct challenge to the authority of the state. It threatened to bring the government’s activities to a standstill. The political mood had turned sharply against the Congress.
The government’s response was swift and drastic. On the night of 25 June 1975, it declared a state of emergency, invoking Article 352 of the Constitution. This article allows the government to proclaim an emergency on grounds of external threat or internal disturbances. The government argued that a grave crisis of internal disturbance had arisen, making the proclamation necessary.
Technically, the government was acting within its constitutional powers. The Constitution does grant special powers to the government once an emergency is declared. But the manner and timing of the declaration raised serious questions.
What an Emergency means under the Constitution
The Constitution treats an Emergency as an extraordinary condition in which normal democratic politics cannot function. Therefore, special powers are granted to the government. Two key features stand out:
- Suspension of federalism: The normal distribution of powers between the Union and the states is practically suspended. All power concentrates in the hands of the Union government.
- Curtailment of Fundamental Rights: The government gets the power to restrict or suspend all or any of the Fundamental Rights during the Emergency.
The night of 25 June 1975
On that night, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi recommended the imposition of Emergency to President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. He issued the proclamation immediately. Then, in a series of coordinated actions:
- Electricity to all major newspaper offices was disconnected.
- In the early morning, a large number of opposition leaders and workers were arrested.
- The Cabinet was informed about the Emergency at a special meeting at 6 a.m. on 26 June — after all these actions had already been taken.
Consequences of the Emergency
The declaration brought the agitation to an abrupt stop. Strikes were banned. Many opposition leaders were put in jail. The political situation became quiet, but tense. The government then used its special powers extensively:
- Press censorship: The freedom of the Press was suspended. Newspapers were required to get prior approval for all material to be published.
- Ban on organisations: Apprehending social and communal disharmony, the government banned the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Jamait-e-Islami.
- Ban on protests: All protests, strikes, and public agitations were disallowed.
- Suspension of Fundamental Rights: The various Fundamental Rights of citizens stood suspended, including the right to move the Court for restoring those rights.
- Preventive detention: The government made extensive use of preventive detention. Under this provision, people are arrested and detained not because they have committed an offence, but on the apprehension that they may commit an offence. Large-scale arrests were made using preventive detention acts.
The role of the judiciary
Arrested political workers could not challenge their arrest through habeas corpus petitions. Many cases were filed in the High Courts and the Supreme Court. The government claimed that it was not even necessary to inform the arrested persons of the reasons for their arrest. Several High Courts ruled that even after the declaration of Emergency, the courts could entertain a writ of habeas corpus challenging a detention.
In April 1976, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court overruled the High Courts and accepted the government’s plea. This meant that during the Emergency, the government could take away a citizen’s right to life and liberty. This judgment is regarded as one of the most controversial in the history of the Supreme Court. It effectively closed the doors of the judiciary for citizens.
Acts of dissent and resistance
Despite the clampdown, there were acts of defiance:
- Many political workers who were not arrested in the first wave went ‘underground’ and organised protests.
- Newspapers like the Indian Express and The Statesman protested against censorship by leaving blank spaces where news items had been censored.
- Magazines like Seminar and Mainstream chose to close down rather than submit to censorship.
- Many journalists were arrested for writing against the Emergency.
- Underground newsletters and leaflets were published to bypass censorship.
- Kannada writer Shivarama Karanth (awarded Padma Bhushan) and Hindi writer Fanishwarnath Renu (awarded Padma Shri) returned their awards in protest.
By and large, however, such open acts of defiance were rare.
Constitutional changes during the Emergency
The Parliament brought in many changes to the Constitution:
- An amendment was made declaring that elections of the Prime Minister, President, and Vice-President could not be challenged in court. This was a direct response to the Allahabad High Court ruling in the Indira Gandhi case.
- The Forty-second Amendment was passed. Among its many changes, one was that the duration of legislatures in the country was extended from five to six years. This change was intended to be permanent, not just for the Emergency period.
- Additionally, during an Emergency, elections can be postponed by one year. Effectively, after 1971, elections needed to be held only in 1978, instead of 1976.
Lessons of the Emergency
The Emergency brought out both the weaknesses and the strengths of India’s democracy.
First lesson: It is extremely difficult to do away with democracy in India. Normal democratic functioning resumed within a short span of time after the Emergency ended.
Second lesson: The Emergency exposed ambiguities in the Emergency provisions of the Constitution. These have since been rectified: …
The figure is a reproduction of an advertisement that appeared in The Times, London, on 15 August 1975 — India’s Independence Day. It was placed by a group called the ‘Free JP Campaign’, referring to Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), the opposition leader who had called for Indira Gandhi’s resignation and was arrested during the Emergency.
The advertisement is designed as a mock death notice. At the top, in large type, it reads: “Today is India’s Independence Day… Don’t Let the Lights Go Out on India’s Democracy.” Below that, the main text is laid out like an obituary:
… death of D. E. M. O’Cracy, mourned by his wife T. Ruth, his son L. I. Bertie, and his daughters Faith, Hope and Justice.
The word “Democracy” is split into a name — “D. E. M. O’Cracy” — and the survivors are puns: “T. Ruth” (truth), “L. I. Bertie” (liberty), and the daughters “Faith, Hope and Justice”. This is a satirical way of saying that democracy in India had died under the Emergency, and that truth, liberty, faith, hope, and justice were all in mourning.
The advertisement uses the format of a formal death announcement to protest the suspension of democratic processes. It appeared in a British newspaper on India’s Independence Day to draw international attention to the fact that, while India celebrated freedom from colonial rule, its own democratic freedoms were being extinguished at home. The reference to “lights going out” echoes the actual power cuts imposed on newspaper offices on the night of 25 June 1975, when the Emergency was declared. …
The textbook includes two separate images in this section, and the caption you quote actually refers to the second one. Let me clarify what each shows.
Figure 1 — R. K. Laxman cartoon (26 June 1975)
This cartoon appeared in The Times of India just a day after the Emergency was declared. It shows a man seated behind a desk — D. K. Barooah, then Congress President — with another figure standing behind his chair. The cartoon captures the sense of an impending political crisis: the government had just suspended normal democratic functioning, and the image suggests that the Congress leadership was orchestrating events from behind the scenes. The exact visual details (expressions, objects on the desk, etc.) are not described in the textbook, but the key point is that it was published before the full impact of the Emergency was known, and it reflects the tense atmosphere of June 1975.
Figure 2 — Anonymous advertisement in The Times of India (1975)
This is the advertisement you asked about. It appeared soon after the declaration of Emergency, and it is a mock death notice. It reads:
"death of D. E. M. O'Cracy, mourned by his wife T. Ruth, his son L. I. Bertie, and his daughters Faith, Hope and Justice."
The names are puns: "D. E. M. O'Cracy" sounds like "democracy"; "T. Ruth" sounds like "truth"; "L. I. Bertie" sounds like "liberty". The daughters' names — Faith, Hope, and Justice — are values that the advertisement implies died along with democracy. The format mimics a formal obituary, making the point that democracy had been killed by the Emergency.
Figure 3 — Advertisement in The Times, London (15 August 1975)
This is the third image, placed later in the chapter. It was published by the "Free JP Campaign" (JP stands for Jayaprakash Narayan, the opposition leader arrested during the Emergency). The text reads:
"Today is India's Independence Day… Don't Let the Lights Go Out on India's Democracy"
It was placed on 15 August — India's Independence Day — to draw international attention to the suspension of democratic rights in India. The "lights going out" metaphor suggests that democracy was being extinguished.
What these images teach together …
The figure is a reproduction of an advertisement placed in The Times, London, on 15 August 1975 — India’s Independence Day — by a group called the ‘Free JP Campaign’. JP stands for Jayaprakash Narayan, the opposition leader who had called for Indira Gandhi’s resignation and a nationwide satyagraha just before the Emergency was declared.
The advertisement is designed as a mock death notice. At the top, in large type, it reads: “Today is India’s Independence Day… Don’t Let the Lights Go Out on India’s Democracy.” Below that, the notice announces the “death of D. E. M. O’Cracy” — a pun on “democracy.” The deceased is mourned by his wife “T. Ruth” (a play on “truth”), his son “L. I. Bertie” (a play on “liberty”), and his daughters “Faith, Hope and Justice.” These names directly reference the core values that the advertisement claims were killed by the Emergency: truth, liberty, faith, hope, and justice.
The layout mimics a standard newspaper obituary: a bold headline, the announcement of death, and the list of surviving family members. There is no image, only text. The advertisement’s placement on 15 August — the day India celebrates its independence from British rule — is deliberately ironic. It suggests that the Emergency had, in effect, ended India’s democratic independence, replacing it with authoritarian rule. …
The figure is an advertisement that appeared in The Times, London, on 15 August 1975 — India’s Independence Day. It was placed by the ‘Free JP Campaign’, a group supporting Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), who was then in detention during the Emergency.
The advertisement is designed as a mock death notice. At the top, it reads: “Today is India’s Independence Day… Don’t Let the Lights Go Out on India’s Democracy.” Below that, the main text announces the “death of D. E. M. O’Cracy” — a pun on “democracy.” The deceased is mourned by “his wife T. Ruth” (a play on “truth”), “his son L. I. Bertie” (a play on “liberty”), and “his daughters Faith, Hope and Justice.” These names directly echo the values that the Emergency had suspended: truth, liberty, faith, hope, and justice. …
The figure is a reproduction of an anonymous advertisement that appeared in the Times of India soon after the declaration of Emergency in June 1975. It is laid out like a formal death notice or obituary. At the top, in large type, it announces the death of "D. E. M. O'Cracy" — a pun on "democracy" — and states that he is mourned by his wife, "T. Ruth" (a play on "truth"), his son "L. I. Bertie" (a play on "liberty"), and his daughters "Faith, Hope and Justice." These names directly invoke the core values that democracy is supposed to protect: truth, liberty, faith, hope, and justice. The advertisement thus presents the Emergency as the death of democracy itself, with these cherished ideals left as grieving survivors.
Below this, the advertisement includes a second, separate message: "Today is India's Independence Day… Don't Let the Lights Go Out on India's Democracy." This line is attributed to an advertisement placed in The Times, London, on 15 August 1975 by the "Free JP Campaign" — "JP" referring to Jayaprakash Narayan, the opposition leader who had called for Indira Gandhi's resignation and was arrested during the Emergency. The juxtaposition of the two messages is deliberate. The first, anonymous notice mourns democracy as already dead. The second, placed on India's Independence Day, warns that the "lights" of democracy are in danger of being extinguished, urging readers to act. Together, they capture the sense of loss and the urgent call to resist that characterised the opposition's response to the Emergency. …
The figure is a reproduction of an advertisement that appeared in The Times, London, on 15 August 1975 — India’s Independence Day. It was placed by a group called the ‘Free JP Campaign’. JP stands for Jayaprakash Narayan, the opposition leader who had been arrested during the Emergency.
The advertisement is designed to look like a death notice. At the top, in large type, it reads: “Today is India’s Independence Day… Don’t Let the Lights Go Out on India’s Democracy.” Below that, the main text is set out as an obituary:
… death of D. E. M. O’Cracy, mourned by his wife T. Ruth, his son L. I. Bertie, and his daughters Faith, Hope and Justice.
The names are puns: “D. E. M. O’Cracy” sounds like “democracy”; “T. Ruth” sounds like “truth”; “L. I. Bertie” sounds like “liberty”; and the daughters “Faith, Hope and Justice” are classic democratic values. The obituary format is a sharp political satire — it announces the death of democracy in India, with its core principles (truth, liberty, faith, hope, justice) grieving over it.
The advertisement was published on a day meant to celebrate India’s independence, making the contrast starker: the country had won freedom from colonial rule, but now, under Emergency, its own democratic freedoms were being extinguished. The ‘Free JP Campaign’ was a solidarity movement abroad, especially in the UK and the US, that sought to draw international attention to the suppression of democracy in India during the Emergency. …