Internal Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi was upheld as lawful by the Supreme Court and was welcomed by vast sections of non-political citizens as a welcome relief from anti-social elements keen on spreading chaos and disorder. Indians lost their freedom of expression. Yet they were happy that a sense of order was getting restored. As it was said both thankfully and sarcastically, "trains started running on time."
Emergency was misused by unconstitutional elements like Sanjay Gandhi to impose their writ on the nation. Millions who had earlier welcomed Emergency got disenchanted and threw Indira Gandhi out of power. Emergency was justified as a welcome tool to fight disorder. It was, however, used as an unwelcome instrument to oppose dissent.
Now the Maharashtra government has arrested a few individuals who are allegedly supporters of Naxalism, a violent movement against the state. Government could not produce any detail which would warrant arrest when the matter was taken up in the Supreme Court by Romila Thapar and others. In the normal course, the petition would have been dismissed as the petitioners are not the alleged victims and the latter had already approached some High Courts. The Supreme Court which is hailed as a 'sentinel on the qui vive' (regrettably, wrongly) probably saw this as an opportunity to rid itself of the slur as the defender of Emergency and started hearing the petition. Governmental sloppiness in presenting relevant materials forced the court to adjourn the hearing to next week.
It is hoped that the Supreme Court will hear the petition and come to a conclusion based solely on merits of law without being under an obligation to disabuse itself of the notorious appellation earned during the Emergency. The Court has to defend the law and not necessarily its image. Image is fickle. Rule of Law has to be sustained. The alibi that the alleged criminals are intellectuals and therefore the charges are false is irrelevant.
This is not the first time that some of these alleged criminals like Vara Vara Rao are arrested. It is equally amusing that they have not been convicted in any case so far. Is the government paranoid or simply sloppy in its prosecution?
Emergency was misused by unconstitutional elements like Sanjay Gandhi to impose their writ on the nation. Millions who had earlier welcomed Emergency got disenchanted and threw Indira Gandhi out of power. Emergency was justified as a welcome tool to fight disorder. It was, however, used as an unwelcome instrument to oppose dissent.
Now the Maharashtra government has arrested a few individuals who are allegedly supporters of Naxalism, a violent movement against the state. Government could not produce any detail which would warrant arrest when the matter was taken up in the Supreme Court by Romila Thapar and others. In the normal course, the petition would have been dismissed as the petitioners are not the alleged victims and the latter had already approached some High Courts. The Supreme Court which is hailed as a 'sentinel on the qui vive' (regrettably, wrongly) probably saw this as an opportunity to rid itself of the slur as the defender of Emergency and started hearing the petition. Governmental sloppiness in presenting relevant materials forced the court to adjourn the hearing to next week.
It is hoped that the Supreme Court will hear the petition and come to a conclusion based solely on merits of law without being under an obligation to disabuse itself of the notorious appellation earned during the Emergency. The Court has to defend the law and not necessarily its image. Image is fickle. Rule of Law has to be sustained. The alibi that the alleged criminals are intellectuals and therefore the charges are false is irrelevant.
This is not the first time that some of these alleged criminals like Vara Vara Rao are arrested. It is equally amusing that they have not been convicted in any case so far. Is the government paranoid or simply sloppy in its prosecution?
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