The Emergency (1975-77)

India’s Prime Minister once advised the President to suspend the Constitution’s own freedoms, without asking her own Cabinet first. That single act shaped the next 21 months, and the next 44th Amendment.

21 Months That Tested a Democracy

ModHist0302

25 JUN 1975

Emergency Declared

After the Allahabad HC verdict, under Article 352

1976

42nd Amendment and Sterilisation Drive

About 8.1 million procedures carried out, 1976-77

21 MAR 1977

Emergency Revoked

Formally ends after 21 months

MAR 1977

Janata Party Wins

Congress falls to 154 seats; Indira Gandhi loses her own seat

The system corrected itself: the very election machinery the Emergency had curbed press coverage of ended up voting the government out.

MCQquestion.com

↓ Download as image

The 21 Months Need to Know

• The Emergency lasted from 25 June 1975 to 21 March 1977.
• It was declared under Article 352 of the Constitution, citing internal disturbance.
• Indira Gandhi advised the President to declare it, without first getting formal Cabinet approval.
• The immediate trigger was the Allahabad High Court’s verdict on 12 June 1975.
• Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha found her guilty of electoral malpractice, disqualifying her from elected office for six years.
• The Emergency saw civil liberties suspended and strict press censorship imposed.

Censorship and the 42nd Amendment Need to Know

• The 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976, passed during the Emergency, is often called the “Mini Constitution.”
• A mass forced-sterilisation campaign ran alongside it, driven by Sanjay Gandhi’s “Five-Point Programme.”
• The campaign carried out about 8.1 million sterilisation procedures across 1976-77.
• The Emergency ended after the Janata Party defeated Congress in the March 1977 general election.
• Indira Gandhi lost her own Lok Sabha seat, at Rae Bareli, to Raj Narain.
• The Janata Party won 295 seats. Congress fell to 154.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. When did India’s 1975-77 Emergency begin and end?

25 June 1975 to 21 March 1977

15 August 1975 to 26 January 1977

12 June 1975 to 24 March 1977

1 April 1976 to 31 March 1977

 Loading…

 

The Wider Story Great to Know

• For the Allahabad verdict itself and the legal case behind it, see ModHist0035 — Why the Emergency Was Declared: The Allahabad Verdict.
• Don’t confuse this Emergency with India’s two earlier ones, in 1962 and 1971. Both of those cited external aggression from a specific war.
• 1975 was the first Emergency ever declared for internal disturbance, in peacetime.
• The 44th Amendment, 1978, directly responded to how this Emergency was declared. It replaced “internal disturbance” with the narrower “armed rebellion.”
• The 44th Amendment also required written Cabinet approval before any future Emergency, and made Articles 20 and 21 non-suspendable even during one.