State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain
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The ''State of Uttar Pradesh v.
Raj Narain Raj Narain (23 November 1917 – 31 December 1986) was an Indian freedom fighter and politician. He won in a famous electoral malpractice case against the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which led to her disqualification and imposition of ...
'' (1975 AIR 865, 1975 SCR (3) 333) was a 1975 case heard by the
Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, also known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is the high court based in Prayagraj that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 17 March 1866, making it one of the oldest high ...
that found the
Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...
Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
guilty of electoral malpractices. The ruling on the case that had been filed by the defeated opposition candidate,
Raj Narain Raj Narain (23 November 1917 – 31 December 1986) was an Indian freedom fighter and politician. He won in a famous electoral malpractice case against the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which led to her disqualification and imposition of ...
, Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha invalidated Gandhi's win and barred her from holding elected office for six years. The decision caused a political crisis in India that led to the imposition of a
state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
by Gandhi's government from 1975 to 1977.


Facts

Raj Narain Raj Narain (23 November 1917 – 31 December 1986) was an Indian freedom fighter and politician. He won in a famous electoral malpractice case against the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which led to her disqualification and imposition of ...
had contested the
1971 Indian general election General elections were held in India between 1 and 10 March 1971 to elect members of the 5th Lok Sabha. They were the fifth general elections since independence in 1947. The 27 Indian states and union territories were represented by 518 constit ...
against
Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
, who represented the constituency of
Rae Bareilly Rae may refer to: People *Rae (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Rae (surname), including a list of people with the surname Nicknames for *Rachel (given name) * Rachelle *Raquel *Raven (given name) *Reema * Reena (di ...
in the
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
, the lower house of the
Indian Parliament The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...
. Gandhi was re-elected from Rae Bareilly by a two-to-one margin of the popular vote, and her
Indian National Congress (R) Indian National Congress (Requisitionists) was created in 1969; it was created and led by Indira Gandhi. Initially this party was known as Congress (R), but it soon came to be generally known as the New Congress or Syndicate. The letter 'R' st ...
party won a sweeping majority in the
Indian Parliament The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...
. Narain filed a petition to appeal the verdict, alleging that Indira Gandhi used bribery, government machinery and resources to gain an unfair advantage in contesting the election. Narain specifically charged Gandhi of using government employees as election agents and of organising campaign activities in the constituency while still on the payroll of the government. Gandhi was represented by
Nanabhoy Palkhivala Nani Ardeshir Palkhivala (16 January 1920 – 11 December 2002) was an Indian jurist and liberal economist. Early years Nani Palkhivala was born in 1920 in Bombay in what was then the Bombay Presidency. His family name derives from the pro ...
, Raj Narayan by
Shanti Bhushan Shanti Bhushan (born 11 November 1925) is an Indian politician and lawyer. He served as the Law Minister of India holding office at the Ministry of Law and Justice from 1977 to 1979 in the Morarji Desai Ministry. He is a senior advocate of the ...
. After she imposed a state of emergency on 26 June-1975, Palkhivala resigned as her lawyer to protest against the decision. When the Janata Party came to power in 1977, Palkhiwala was appointed Ambassador to US. Shanti Bhushan became a minister in the Janata Party government.


Judgement

On 12 June 1975, Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha found Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractices. Sinha declared the election verdict in the Rae Bareilly constituency "null and void", and barred Gandhi from holding elected office for six years. While Sinha had dismissed charges of bribery, he had found Indira guilty of misusing government machinery as a government employee herself. The court order gave the Congress (R) twenty days to make arrangements to replace Gandhi in her official posts. This was unprecedented. Its impact finally led to the fall of Congress regime at the centre immediately after emergency.
Raj Narain Raj Narain (23 November 1917 – 31 December 1986) was an Indian freedom fighter and politician. He won in a famous electoral malpractice case against the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which led to her disqualification and imposition of ...
became a national hero for overthrowing Gandhi's and the Congress's regime after 30 years of independence, initially by trouncing Gandhi in judicial battle and later in 1977 Loksabha elections. This fulfilled an unrealised dream of his friend and mentor Ram Manohar Lohia. Gandhi appealed the verdict to the
Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
, which granted a conditional
stay of execution A stay of execution is a court order to temporarily suspend the execution of a court judgment or other court order. The word "execution" does not always mean the death penalty. It refers to the imposition of whatever judgment is being stayed and i ...
on the ruling on 24 June 1976. On 7 November 1976, the Supreme Court of India formally overturned the conviction.


Significance

''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
'' compared the verdict to "firing the Prime Minister for a traffic ticket". The Congress (R) also staged numerous protests across the country in support of Gandhi. However, the verdict helped galvanize the opposition political parties, who demanded that Indira Gandhi resign from office immediately.
Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...
, the leader of the
Janata Morcha The Janata Morcha ("People's Front") was a coalition of Indian political parties formed in 1974 to oppose the government of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Congress (R) party. The coalition was an integral part of the popular movemen ...
, a coalition of opposition political parties, called for a campaign of
civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...
to oust Indira's government. On 25 June 1975, a state of emergency was declared by the
President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...
,
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (13 May 1905 – 11 February 1977) was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of India from 1974 to 1977. Born in Delhi, Ahmed studied in Delhi and Cambridge and was called to the bar from the I ...
, upon the advice of Prime Minister Gandhi. The government argued that the political disorder was a threat to national security. Using the sweeping powers granted by the emergency decree, thousands of opposition leaders and activists were arrested,
press censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
was introduced and elections were postponed. During this period, Gandhi's Congress (R) used its parliamentary majority to amend the
Indian Constitution The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental r ...
and overwrite the law that she had been found guilty of violating. When the government finally called elections in 1977, the opposition
Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...
alliance defeated Gandhi's Congress (R) party. Raj Narain defeated Indira Gandhi in the Rae Bareilly constituency by a margin of 55,200 votes.


References

{{Indian Emergency Legal history of India The Emergency (India) 1975 in India Election law in India 1975 in case law Indian case law Indira Gandhi administration High Courts of India cases Allahabad High Court