NEWS: “Declare Emergency Unconstitutional” SC to hear the plea

By Legal Wires 3 Minutes Read

Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court issued a letter to Centre seeking its response regarding a plea filed by Veeera Sarin, 94-year-old woman who sought to declare the 1975 Emergency as “wholly unconstitutional”.

Justice S K Kaul while agreeing to hear the plea, raised doubts if it is “feasible or desirable” for the apex court to examine the validity of proclamation of Emergency after a lapse of about 45 years.

During the hearing, the apex court while admitting that Emergency should not have occurred at first place, it was a contentious issue as to what relief can it grant after the passage of such a long time.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing on behalf of the petitioner Veera Sarin, pleaded that Emergency was a “fraud” and the “greatest assault” in Indian history on the Constitution wherein rights were suspended for months and many human rights violations occurred at the hands of the State.

The Indira Gandhi led Congress government imposed Emergency through a proclamation minutes before the midnight of June 25, 1975, by then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. The Emergency lasted for 21 months and was subsequently revoked aft revoked in March 1977.

Salve refuted any political colors to this plea and contended “This is not a political debate. We all know what happened in jails. Maybe we are too late for relief but someone must be told that what was done was wrong.”

The petitioner has claimed in her plea that she and her husband were “victims of the atrocities inflicted by the then government authorities and others” during the period of emergency.

Salve said the petitioner had suffered during the emergency and the court must consider the treatment meted out to her and her husband during that period. The plea demanded a compensation of Rs 25 crores from the authorities who had actively participated in the “unconstitutional acts”.

Legal Wires

Team @LegalWires