Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar criticised the Supreme Court for its 1976 Emergency-era judgment, saying it legitimised dictatorship and ignored fundamental rights.
New Delhi: Today, on June 20, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday strongly criticised the Supreme Court’s judgment during the Emergency period of 1975-77, calling it the “darkest” verdict in the history of any judiciary that believes in democracy and the rule of law.
He said the judgment went against the principles of justice and gave legal approval to dictatorship and authoritarianism in India.
In an official statement, Vice President Dhankhar said that the Supreme Court’s decision to overrule nine High Courts during the Emergency was a major blow to democracy.
According to him, this verdict allowed the government to act without any constitutional checks and led to mass arrests and suppression of civil liberties.
While addressing a group of Rajya Sabha interns in New Delhi, Dhankhar also questioned the role of the then President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, for issuing the proclamation of Emergency on the advice of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, rather than the full council of ministers.
he said,
“A president cannot act on the advice of an individual, the prime minister. The Constitution is very categorical,”
Dhankhar added,
“There is a council of ministers headed by the PM to aid and advise the president. This was one violation, but what was the result? More than 1,00,000 citizens of this country were put behind bars in hours,”
He said that during the Emergency, people turned to the judiciary hoping it would protect their rights. However, what followed was deeply disappointing.
“That was a time when the fundamental essence of democracy capsized in times of distress. People look up to the judiciary.”
Vice President Dhankhar praised the High Courts for standing strong during that period and holding that the fundamental rights of people cannot be taken away, even during an Emergency.
“Nine high courts in the country have gloriously defined that emergency or no emergency, people have fundamental rights and there is access to the justice system.”
But he criticised the Supreme Court for overturning these decisions and supporting the government’s stance, which he said damaged the credibility of the institution.
“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court overturned all nine high courts and gave a judgment which will be the darkest in the history of any judicial institution in the world that believes in the rule of law,” he stated.
According to Dhankhar, the Supreme Court gave full power to the executive to decide the duration and conduct of the Emergency, ignoring the constitutional balance.
“It is the will of the executive to have Emergency for as much time as it thinks fit.”
“So the judgment of the Supreme Court legitimised dictatorship, authoritarianism and despotism in this land.”
Vice President Dhankhar also supported the current government’s decision to observe June 25 every year as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ (Constitution Murder Day) to remember the Emergency and the threat it posed to democracy.
The Emergency lasted from June 25, 1975, to March 21, 1977, and is widely seen as one of the most controversial periods in India’s democratic history, marked by suspension of civil liberties, press censorship, and mass detentions.
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