SC seeks reply on plea seeking Emergency be declared unconstitutional

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea by a 94yearold woman to declare the 1975 Emergency proclamation as unconstitutional and sought a response from the CentreSenior advocate Harish Salve representing petitioner Veena Sarin submitted before a bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul that his client wants a declaration that the Emergency was unconstitutionalThe bench also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy observed that the Emergency was an abuse and something happened which should not have had happened The bench issued notice on the petition and allowed the petitioner to amend the petition on the aspect of restricted issue whether the Emergency could be declared unconstitutionalInitially expressing its noninclination to take up the matter the bench said 45 years have elapsed already and the court cant be digging on these issuesSalve insisted that people were under detention for months He submitted that today even war crimes issues are considered and 90yearolds are hauled up for crimes In nascent stage of our democracy rights were suspended for 19 months said Salve The bench reiterated that it is disinclined to open all such aspects as there may be wrongs done to the persons Citing the passage of over 40 years the bench said It would not be appropriate to reopen those issuesSalve emphasized that this is a matter of constitutional debate and there was abuse of power for many months He added that principles must be laid down so that no matter how high you are you will be held accountableJustice Kaul asked what will this take us to Salve said If history is not corrected then it repeats itself I feel very strongly on this issueAfter a detailed hearing in the matter the top court noted that it heard the matter with some trepidation more so due to the passage of time However the bench said it would decide if a simpliciter declaration can be made that the proclamation of Emergency was unconstitutionalThe plea said that the petitioner is aggrieved by the trauma and harassment faced by herself and her family including her deceased husband during the period beginning June 1975 upon the declaration of the EmergencyCiting the order passed by the then President of India under Article 358 and 359 of the Constitution the plea argued that the freedoms guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution and the rights of citizens to move any court for enforcement of their fundamental rights remained suspended till the withdrawal of the EmergencyThe petitioner submitted that her husband and she were compelled to leave the country for fear of being thrown into jail on the whims and wishes of the government authorityThe petitioner who now lives with her daughter in Dehradun alleged that her husbands gold and art business in Karol Bagh and Connaught Place in Delhi was seized by the authorities and the family was threatened and their properties and valuables were forcefully taken awayDeclare that the proclamation of Emergency vide notification dated June 25 1975 was wholly unconstitutional and actions pursuant to the same are illegal and unjustifiable The petitioner may kindly be compensated to the tune of Rs 25 crore to be recovered from the concerned authorities as having participated in the unconstitutional acts said the pleaSarin added that she singlehandedly faced all proceedings initiated against her husband during the Emergency periodKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever