Find The Case That Shook India Curated By Prashant Bhushan Accessible In Publication

book is interesting because of the case it describes and contains, rightly so, a large amount of legal language which may be difficult to comprehend.
However, the importance of the case that led to the Emergency, the judgements delivered therein, the conduct of the courts and arguments forwarded by the state make this book a necessity today.
There was a time in the history of India, as a nation when the rights, the fundamental rights that we take for granted were evoked and one couldn't do anything about it.
This was for a period of almost two years that 'National Emergency' was declared by the president of the country on the advice of the then PM Late Mrs.
Indira Gandhi.
In order to form a view of the present amp the future and to put that view in perspective, one must have a fair knowledge of all the events of national history and their 'what's amp 'when's amp 'how's amp 'why's.

This particular book deals with the 'why' of that particular event,
If you want to know what exactly had happened that eventually led to the declaration of Emergency, this book provides you with absolute crearcut detailes of that one CASE, the verdict in which played a vital role in taking of that decision to impose National Emergency on the state.

Absolutely brilliant detailing of the facts and the course of events that took place from right after the Dissolution of Lok Sabha in the last month ofto the day Emergency was forced upon the nation is what this book provides you with.

It is almost as if you can see before your own eyes and witness the proceedings of the cases, in the Honorable Allahabad High Court and Honorable Supreme Court of India through the eyes of the Author.
And the fact that the author himself was present in the courtroom for the entire duration does away with question of credibility of the content of the book.

A mustread for anyone who has interest in learning about the political history of India or even if you want to have a good read.

It is a beautifully narrated book that engages you so well, it is difficult to put it down once you start reading.
Kuldip Nayar's account on the infamous emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi is a good book to begin with, to understand one of the most controversial periods of India's history.
Though Indira Gandhi justified the emergency by arguing that the escalating political protests against her rule constituted a grave internal disturbance, it is now widely accepted that the justification was specious, and the emergency was a consolidation plan to provide legal cover, to safeguard the power and to systemically and often violently persecute the dissenter.


If Kuldip Nayars Emergency Retold had narrated the political strife between Jayaprakash Narayan and Indira Gandhi and also further portrayed the excesses committed under the emergency such as the forced sterilizations carried out in the name of fivepoint development program and many other such stories which involved brutality, violence and blood under the entire dictatorial regime of a pseudotyrant, this book from Prashant Bhushan outlines the tipping point of emergency the landmark judgement which lead to the disqualification of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which catalysed her imposition of emergency under Articleof Indian Constitution.


The first half of the book explored the watershed case of Raj Narain vs Indira Gandhi where Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha held Mrs.
Indira Gandhi culpable and guilty under the accounts of electoral malpractice, further declaring her nomination to be null and void and debarring Indira Gandhi from holding elected office for six years.
Since the counsel was led by Prashanth Bhushans father Shanthi Bhushan himself, this book gives a firsthand account on the court room trial which unseated the Indian Prime Minister in.
The second half of the book deals with the validity of certain constitutional amendments propounded during the emergency in relation to the election of prime minister, role of judiciary in dealing with election petitions and judicial review with relevance to election of Prime Minister.


Though the basic structure doctrine of Indian constitution was firmly outlined and established after the verdict of Kesavanada Bharati vs State of Kerala, Bhushan Sr.
argued that the thirtyninth amendment of Constitution which took away the right of judiciary to adjudicate election disputes relating to Prime Minister is an onslaught on the rule of equality before law and right to judicial review enshrined in constitution, which forms the bedrock of democracy.
Ambedkar had once said, “If I was asked to name any particular article in this Constitution as the most important an article without which this Constitution would be a nullity I could not refer to any other article except this Article.
It is the very soul of the Constitution and the very heart of it, ” By amending the constitution to place the election of the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha beyond the scrutiny of the Indian courts and to declare that the judiciary has no role to play on their elections, Mrs.
Gandhi had epitomised authoritarianism by snatching away several powers resting with the Supreme Court making Parliament herself the supreme authority with uncontrolled powers to amend any section of the Constitution without any judicial intervention.


It was during the emergency, the independent nature of judiciary was tested the most.
While reading the first part, one could understand how

the judiciary upheld constitutional values during those dark times and the second part reveals in much greater depth how the separation of powers between judiciary, executive and legislature forms the very basic tenet of our democratic polity, albeit the current political climate had convinced the citizenry that such separation doesnt exist amidst raising media trials and moral policing from vigilante groups backed by political loonies.
The only shortcoming with the book was that many readers without a domain expertise on law would find the legal jargons to be abstruse and arcane.
Yet, for anyone interested in the calamitous two years of emergency, I would recommend to begin with Kuldip Nayars Emergency Retold, followed by this invaluable legal document from Prashant Bhushan.
The writing style is too retrospective, Too many dates. Too many stories.
If it was written in an opinionated form, it would have been better to read.

It was impossible to find out the writer's stand,

A very good read and fruitful utilisation of time, The book is interesting and quite appealing if you are someone who studies law already, The author has put his best in it and the tone has been subtle and simplified for everyone.

It is a wonderful creative nonfiction, based on the events of the case against The Prime Minister of India, which led to an emergency.
The author has beautifully pinned the interesting courtroom procedures during the emergency and impact of politics on judiciary has been described well.


An interesting and delightful read, It was my first ever book, that i have read on Indian Emergency, so got to know lots of facts.
Overall, i think, its a must read for anyone , who wants to know about this case, and some of the important reasons what lead to Emergency.
It is also good for students , who want to undertake Law as a profession, as it examines, each point very legally and can be a good learning for students The Case that shook India Legal account of the case that led to the disqualification of Mrs Gandhi and eventually to 'Emergency'.


To what extent a politician can go to protect the 'chair', to what extent all the institutions can be misused, to what extent a lawyer can fight against the most powerful person of the biggest democracy and to what extent a judge can go to protect the constitution If you want to know this, this book is a mustread.


Till date 'SHE' is the only PM whose election was declared void by the court on account of corrupt practices, 'SHE' is the only PM candidate who lost Lok Sabha election and 'SHE' is the only PM who declared 'Emergency'.


It is a legal account of the court case which lead to disqualification of Mrs Gandhi, there are some very interesting points in this one of them is that a minor mistake by the lawyer gave enough time to Mrs Gandhi to impose emergency.
It explains how a powerful and corrupt leader became dangerous for the nation,

Since it is based on facts and case arguments, those who don't like political books this may sound boring.
This book was a good insight into the case that led to emergency in India, Fascinating view of how the court proceedings were done,
Maybe a bit too technical for my liking but enjoyed reading it, I had wanted to read this book for a long time, mainly for the curiosity about the case but also for the writer, who in my view, is among the most forceful activists in India.
The case, fought by his father Shashi Bhushan, made a lasting impact on India's democratic movement.
Bhushan senior is the brilliant hero of this nonfiction, But, after reading through the book, I have reached the conclusion that junior Bhushan's savant lies less in literary field, than in legal.


In the Rae Bareli constituency, Raj Narain lost against Indira Gandhi and claimed foul play on the following grounds :
.
Abuse of government machinery for personal electoral gains,
i. Procuring the services of Yashpal Kapoor, a gazetted officer who had resigned to be her agent
ii.
Allocation of the symbol of a cow and a calf, allegedly to incite religious sentiments
iii.
Breaching the then election expenses limit ofK now increased multifolds
iv, Bribing the voters and tampering with the ballot papers both of which were dropped later
While she was convicted on the first account, relived of all other and her election invalidated.
But Indira being Indira, she made use of all the legislative machinery at her disposal to relieve herself of the charges.
She went as far as to get the constitution amended indays and declaring an emergency.
While the SC finally exonerated her on all accounts, it did strike down the amendments,

The case is really interesting if seen in light of the then political environment.
India had recently fought and won theBangladesh war, but was reeling under the economic pressure and there was high inflation.
For the first time, the supersession of senior CJI nominees was done to favour a judge who found concordance with the political power.
The permanent executives were being demanded to be "committed", The stalwarts of Congress O were thrown out of the party and Indira's Congress splinter became the mainstream party.
And above all, the emergency,

In any case, India did learn important lessons from the case and the loopholes in law, which were subsequently plugged viath Amendment.
It's almost ironical about how my mother sees Indira Gandhi as a hero, and so does the rest of people who have any opinion of her.
They seem to discount that this was the only postindependence attempt at subversion of democracy, Maybe that's why "Indira is India and India is Indira", .