The Crisis of Democratic Order

Constitutional Changes During and After the Emergency: The 42nd Constitutional Amendment (1976) — 'Mini Constitution': • Passed during the Emergency when opposition was in jail and Parliament was under pressure. • Key changes: 1. Preamble: Added the words 'socialist' and 'secular' — making explicit what was already implicit. 2. Fundamental Duties (Part IVA): Added a new part listing 10 fundamental duties for citizens. 3. Directive Principles over Fundamental Rights: Article 31C was expanded — any law implementing Directive Principles could not be challenged for violating Fundamental Rights (specifically Articles 14, 19). 4. Parliament's power: Amendments to the Constitution could no longer be challenged in courts (attempted to make Parliament supreme over the judiciary). 5. Emergency provisions strengthened: Easier to impose and maintain Emergency. 6. Administrative service officers given greater protection. 7. Duration of Lok Sabha and state assemblies extended from 5 to 6 years. 8. President bound to act on Cabinet advice — made explicit. • The 42nd Amendment was widely seen as an authoritarian overreach — an attempt to make Parliament (controlled by Indira Gandhi) all-powerful. The 44th Constitutional Amendment (1978) — Janata Restoration: • Passed by the Janata government after the Emergency ended — to undo the worst excesses of the 42nd Amendment. • Key changes: 1. Reversed many 42nd Amendment changes — Fundamental Rights could not be overridden by Directive Principles in the same sweeping way. 2. Emergency provisions tightened: A proclamation of Emergency now required approval by a 2/3 majority of the full strength of Parliament (not just majority of those present). 3. The Cabinet must send the Emergency proclamation in writing. 4. Lok Sabha can revoke Emergency by simple majority. 5. Right to life (Article 21) — cannot be suspended even during Emergency. 6. Duration of Lok Sabha restored to 5 years. 7. Article 74: Made explicit that the President can ask the Cabinet to reconsider its advice. • The 44th Amendment significantly strengthened democracy's safeguards against the return of authoritarian rule.

The Shah Commission: • After the Emergency ended and the Janata Party came to power in 1977, the new government set up the Shah Commission to investigate the excesses committed during the Emergency. • The Commission was headed by Justice J.C. Shah, a retired Chief Justice of India. • It investigated the actions of the Government of India from June 1975 to March 1977. Key Findings of the Shah Commission: 1. Illegal detention and torture: • Thousands of people were detained under MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act) without trial. • The Commission documented cases of torture and mistreatment of detainees. • Many detainees were held for months without charges. 2. Forced sterilisation: • The Commission documented the coercive family planning programme run under Sanjay Gandhi's influence. • Targets were set for sterilisations; government employees were pressured to 'bring' people for sterilisation. • The forced sterilisation campaign alienated large sections of the population, particularly Muslims and the poor. 3. Press censorship: • The Commission found that press censorship was systematically imposed — newspapers could not criticise the government or report on Emergency-related news. 4. Abuse of state power: • The Commission found that the machinery of the state — police, administration, intelligence — was misused for political purposes. • The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) was used to harass political opponents. 5. Concentration of power: • The Commission found that power had been concentrated in the hands of Sanjay Gandhi (who held no official government position) — he ran a parallel power centre. Limitations: • The Commission's findings were damning but had limited legal consequence — Indira Gandhi was not prosecuted. • The Janata government collapsed before it could act on the recommendations. • After Indira's return to power in 1980, the Commission's report was shelved. Significance: • The Shah Commission's documentation preserved the historical record of Emergency excesses. • It served as a warning about how democratic institutions can be subverted.

Lessons of the Emergency: 1. Democracy is not self-sustaining: • The Emergency showed that even a mature democracy can be suspended — democratic norms require active defence. • Article 352 gave the executive enormous power — and Indira Gandhi used it. 2. Institutional resilience: • Some institutions resisted — some judges upheld civil liberties (Justice H.R. Khanna's famous dissent in the ADM Jabalpur case), some journalists defied censorship, some bureaucrats refused unlawful orders. • But most institutions bent — the Supreme Court (majority), Parliament, and the press largely complied. 3. Civil society's role: • RSS, political activists, and thousands of ordinary citizens resisted — many went underground, printing pamphlets, and organising. • The Samata Party (socialist), Jan Sangh, and Lok Dal workers formed the backbone of resistance. 4. The voters' verdict: • The most important lesson: Indian voters ultimately rejected Emergency rule — the 1977 election was a decisive popular verdict. • Universal adult suffrage was the ultimate check on authoritarian rule. Impact on Subsequent Politics: 1. Janata Party — a flawed coalition: • The Janata government (1977–79) was a diverse coalition united only by opposition to Indira Gandhi. • Once in power, personal rivalries and ideological differences tore it apart. • The RSS-Jana Sangh question ('dual membership') split the coalition. • Morarji Desai resigned in 1979; Charan Singh briefly became PM without Congress support and never faced Parliament. • Indira Gandhi returned to power with a massive majority in 1980. 2. The 'Emergency factor' in politics: • The Emergency became a permanent reference point — invoked whenever any government was seen as becoming authoritarian. • Opposition parties and civil society use 'Emergency' as a warning whenever democratic norms are under threat. 3. Article 356 misuse: • The Emergency demonstrated how Article 356 (President's Rule) could be misused — the Janata government dismissed Congress-ruled state governments, just as Indira had dismissed opposition state governments. • The Supreme Court's Bommai judgment (1994) later constrained this misuse.