State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain

2021-05-29T18:45:04Z

2405:201:680A:486E:84C8:F1AD:7ADD:1736: /* Judgement */

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2015}}
The '''''State of Uttar Pradesh v. [[Raj Narain]]''''' (1975 AIR 865, 1975 SCR (3) 333) was a 1975 case heard by the [[Allahabad High Court]] that found the [[Prime Minister of India]] [[Indira Gandhi]] guilty of electoral malpractices. Ruling on the case that had been filed by the defeated opposition candidate, [[Raj Narain]], Justice [[Jagmohanlal Sinha]] invalidated Gandhi's win and barred her from holding elected office for six years.<ref name="A">{{cite web|title=Indian Emergency of 1975-77|url=http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~ghosh20p/page1.html|publisher=Mount Holyoke College|accessdate=2009-07-05}}</ref><ref name="LOC">{{cite web|title=The Rise of Indira Gandhi|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+in0029)|publisher=[[Library of Congress]] Country Studies|accessdate=2009-06-27}}</ref><ref name="UK">{{cite web|title=OBITUARY: Morarji Desai|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-morarji-desai-1615165.html|publisher=[[The Independent]]|author=Kuldip Singh|date=1995-04-11|accessdate=2009-06-27}}</ref><ref name="ING">{{cite book|title=Indira: The Life Of Indira Nehru Gandhi|pages=[https://archive.org/details/indiralifeofindi00fran/page/371 371]|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|author=Katherine Frank|year=2002|isbn=978-0-395-73097-3|url=https://archive.org/details/indiralifeofindi00fran/page/371}}</ref> The decision caused a political crisis in India that led to the imposition of a [[Indian Emergency|state of emergency]] by Gandhi's government from 1975 to 1977.<ref name="KS">{{cite web|title=Justice Sinha, who set aside Indira Gandhi’s election, dies at 87|url=http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/aaJustice-Sinha-who-set-aside-Indira-Gandhis-election-dies-at-87/287227/|publisher=[[The Indian Express]]|date=2008-03-22|access-date=2009-07-05|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309151210/http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/aaJustice-Sinha-who-set-aside-Indira-Gandhis-election-dies-at-87/287227/|archive-date=9 March 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Facts==
{{refimprove section|date=May 2021}}
[[Raj Narain]] had contested the [[1971 Indian general election]] against [[Indira Gandhi]], who represented the constituency of [[Rae Bareilly]] in the [[Lok Sabha]], the lower house of the [[Indian Parliament]]. Gandhi was re-elected from Rae Bareilly by a two-to-one margin of the popular vote, and her [[Indian National Congress (R)]] party won a sweeping majority in the [[Indian Parliament]]. 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]], Raj Narayan by [[Shanti Bhushan]]. 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.<ref name="LOC"/><ref name="UK"/><ref name="ING"/><ref name="A"/> While Sinha had dismissed charges of bribery, he had found Indira guilty of misusing government machinery as a government employee herself.<ref name="A"/> 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.{{Citation needed|date= August 2018}} [[Raj Narain]] 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.{{Citation needed|date= August 2018}} This fulfilled an unrealised dream of his friend and mentor Ram Manohar Lohia. Gandhi appealed the verdict to the [[Supreme Court of India]], which granted a conditional [[stay of execution]] on the ruling on 24 June 1976.<ref name="A"/> On 7 November 1976, the Supreme Court of India formally overturned the conviction.<ref name="B">{{cite book|title=320 Million Judges|author=G. G. Mirchandani|pages=236|publisher=Abhinav Publications|year=2003|isbn=81-7017-061-3}}</ref>

==Significance==
''[[The Times of India]]'' compared the verdict to "firing the Prime Minister for a traffic ticket".<ref name="A"/><ref name="CC">{{cite web|title=A Revolving Door for Democrats, Dictators and Bankers|url=http://www.countercurrents.org/naqvi100407.htm|publisher=Counter Currents|author=Jawed Naqvi|date=2007-04-10|accessdate=2009-07-05}}</ref><ref name="ING1">{{cite book|title=Indira: The Life Of Indira Nehru Gandhi|pages=[https://archive.org/details/indiralifeofindi00fran/page/371 371–79]|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|author=Katherine Frank|year=2002|isbn=978-0-395-73097-3|url=https://archive.org/details/indiralifeofindi00fran/page/371}}</ref> The Congress (R) also staged numerous protests across the country in support of Gandhi.<ref name="ING1"/> However, the verdict helped galvanize the opposition political parties, who demanded that Indira Gandhi resign from office immediately. [[Jayaprakash Narayan]], the leader of the [[Janata Morcha]], a coalition of opposition political parties, called for a campaign of [[civil disobedience]] to oust Indira's government.<ref name="LOC"/> On 25 June 1975, a state of emergency was declared by the [[President of India]], [[Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed]], upon the advice of Prime Minister Gandhi.<ref name="LOC"/><ref name="UK"/> The government argued that the political disorder was a threat to national security.<ref name="ING2">{{cite book|title=Indira: The Life Of Indira Nehru Gandhi|pages=[https://archive.org/details/indiralifeofindi00fran/page/377 377]|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|author=Katherine Frank|year=2002|isbn=978-0-395-73097-3|url=https://archive.org/details/indiralifeofindi00fran/page/377}}</ref> Using the sweeping powers granted by the emergency decree, thousands of opposition leaders and activists were arrested, [[press censorship]] was introduced and elections were postponed. During this period, Gandhi's Congress (R) used its parliamentary majority to amend the [[Indian Constitution]] and overwrite the law that she had been found guilty of violating. When the government finally called elections in 1977, the opposition [[Janata Party]] alliance defeated Gandhi's Congress (R) party. Raj Narain defeated Indira Gandhi in the Rae Bareilly constituency by a margin of 55,200 votes.{{Citation needed|date= August 2018}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Indian Emergency}}

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

Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]

State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain