Over 5 decades on, recalling the Allahabad HC verdict against Indira Gandhi that paved way for Emergency

📌 Summary:

• On June 12, 1975, the Allahabad High Court (Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha) found PM Indira Gandhi guilty of corrupt electoral practices in her 1971 Rae Bareilly win, declaring the election void and barring her from contesting for six years (granting 20 days to appeal)
• The "Election Case" was filed by socialist leader Raj Narain, whom she had defeated; charges included exceeding campaign spending limits and using government machinery/officials
• The court upheld two of fourteen charges: (1) Yashpal Kapoor acted as her election agent before formally resigning government service; (2) UP officials helped her campaign (arranging electricity, erecting a rostrum)
• Significance: historians (Ramachandra Guha, India After Gandhi) see this June 12 judgment as the trigger for the Emergency, proclaimed on the night of June 25, 1975 by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed on Gandhi''s advice, citing internal-security threats
• Aftermath: Opposition demanded her resignation; supporters (e.g., Haryana CM Bansi Lal from June 13) mobilised crowds; she alleged a foreign-backed conspiracy and addressed a massive Boat Club rally on June 20

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 Polity (judiciary vs executive, electoral integrity, Emergency provisions) and Post-Independence history; a landmark in India''s constitutional democracy.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Allahabad HC verdict: June 12, 1975; Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha; petitioner Raj Narain (Rae Bareilly, 1971 election)
• Emergency proclaimed June 25, 1975 by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
• Gandhi was the first sitting Indian PM to testify in court (March 19, 1975)
• The case led to the 39th Constitutional Amendment and the later Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain Supreme Court case

🔑 Key Term: Corrupt Practices (Representation of the People Act) — electoral offences (e.g., misuse of official machinery, exceeding spending limits) that can void an election.