Mrs. Gandhi And The 1974 Emergency

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JUSTICE SINHA, WHO SET ASIDE INDIRA'S ELECTION IS NO MORE

Allahabad, Mar. 23- Justice Jag Mohan Lal Sinha, who had set aside
the election of Indira Gandhi from Rae Bareli in 1975 — a judgment
which set off a chain of events that changed Indian polity forever —
died at his Allahabad home on Thursday evening.

Justice Sinha (87), died due to age-related problems. His body was
cremated at Rasoolabad Ghat on the banks of Ganga in Allahabad on
Friday.

Justice Sinha is survived by his wife and three sons. The legal
fraternity mourned the death of the man, who, as one of them said,
was “known for his courageous voice of dissent against all that
defines illegality.”

Said Justice Ravi Dhawan, a former Chief Justice of Patna High Court,
who had a long association with Justice Sinha: “He said his final
adieu to the world last night, but he will have a permament place in
the pages of Indian judicial history”.

It wasn’t one of those usual tributes from one judge to another. For,
Justice Sinha is the only judge in the history of the country and
perhaps among the very few in the world, who set aside the election
of a Prime Minister for using corrupt practices in an election.

Angry Indira

Angered by Justice Sinha’s judgement, Indira Gandhi retaliated by
imposing a internal Emergency on June 25, 1975, suspended Fundamental
Rights, arrested Opposition leaders and imposed censorship on
news-papers. There were no TV news channels those days.

In the elections held after the Emergency in 1980, the Cong-ress was
roundly defeated. Even Indira Gandhi and her younger son Sanjay — who
was believed to be the brain behind the Emergency — lost and, for the
first time, a non-Congress government was formed at the Centre.

Justice R.B. Mehrotra, a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court,
who had watched the proceedings in the historic case of Raj Narain
versus Indira Nehru Gandhi as a young advocate, remembers Justice
Sinha conducting the proceedings with calm and appropriate dignity.

Human chain

He recalled that the day before Indira Gandhi was to appear in his
court, Justice Sinha ordered that no policemen, even on security
duty, would be allowed inside the court premises. In an incident
without any parallel, the security of a Prime Minister was managed by
lawyers of the High Court who formed a human chain when Indira Gandhi
came to the court.

Justice Mehrotra said that Justice Sinha asked the Registrar to take
all steps to maintain the sanctity and dignity of the court in spite
of the presence of the Prime Minister. So, while it was ensured that
Indira Gandhi had an appropriate seat, it was lower than the judge’s
dais. However, her chair was a little higher than the seats of the
lawyers.

It was also strictly ensured that no lawyer or official inside the
court would stand up when she arrived; that honour was rightfully
reserved only for the judge who would arrive a little later, recalled
Justice Mehrotra.

Daughter-in- law recalls

Justice Sinha’s elder daughter-in- law Vibha says he took the famous
case as another routine case. When he returned home after setting
aside the election of Indira Gandhi on June 12, 1975, it was like any
other day; it did not look as if he had delivered a very important
judgment against the Prime Minister.

Justice Sinha retired in 1982. He spent his time reading and
gardening. Essentially apolitical, Justice Sinha was an anguished man
in later years over certain disturbing trends in the country’s
politics, said his other dauther-in-law Poonam Sinha. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->