As I then was
The Emergency, the Court, and the Constitution
How I Got Involved With The Case
Summary: This is a new series titled 'THE HABEAS CORPUS CASE AT FIFTY: The Emergency, the Court, and the Constitution'.
It is about ADM Jabalpur v. Shiv Kant Shukla, AIR 1976 SC 1207: (1976) 2 SCC 521—the Habeas Corpus case. The case that closed the doors of liberty instead of opening them.
The Habeas Corpus case was decided on 28 April 1976. Fifty years have gone by. It is instructive to understand the point involved, the mood at that time, and its aftermath.
This is the First post of the series and explains as to how I got involved with the case.
THE HABEAS CORPUS CASE AT FIFTY:
The Emergency, the Court, and the Constitution
How I Got Involved with the Case।।
After a year, I shifted to the Kanpur district court to practise with Barrister Narendra Jeet Singh. His wife had inherited property in Kashmir, and he used to visit there every year. At the end of a year, he invited me to spend the summer of 1975 in Srinagar, which I gladly accepted.
On the fateful night intervening 25–26 June—when the Internal Emergency was imposed. I was on the train (see End Note-1), on my way back to join my father's chamber at Allahabad.
My father, VKS Chaudhary (Virendra Bhai Saheb) (Dadda) was a senior advocate in Allahabad and a prominent RSS office-bearer. Our family and the family of Rajju Bhaiya (later to become the fourth Sar Sanghchalak of the RSS) were very close. We had our houses in the same compound. He used to come over to our house every day in the morning to read newspapers and often in the evening after attending Shakha.
Rajju Bhaiya went underground to fight against the tyranny.
My father was first arrested under Defence of India Rules (DIR) (see End Note-2). He was granted bail but before he could come out of jail, he was detained under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), equivalent to the present National Security Act (NSA).
We filed a Habeas Corpus petition for my father’s release. State raised a preliminary objection regarding its maintainability. The matter was referred to a five-judge bench. It was decided in our favour by four to one.
However, the State took matter to the Supreme Court. This is how my involvement started with the Habeas Corpus case—the case that would make HR Khanna J. the greatest judge ever to adorn the Bench of the Supreme Court, and for whose honour the New York Times remarked that a statue should be erected in every city in India.
My next post will be about the point involved in the case.
End Note-1: I had flown from Srinagar to Amritsar, where daughters of Barrister Saheb lived. I stayed there for a night and took a train to Delhi and caught overnight train to Allahabad. To best of my recollection, it was Delhi Howrah mail
End Note-2: RSS was banned on 4th July 1975. On the morning of the same day, my father was also arrested. I was not present in the house on that day but had gone to Shahdol, MP for naming ceremony (नामकरण संस्कार) of my niece. After the ceremony was over, my mother informed me that police had come around 6am and surrounded the house. They were courteous and permitted my father finish his daily routine and breakfast. They took him away around 9:30am.
#ADM JabalpurVersusShivkantShuklz #TheHabeasCorpusCase #VKSChaudhary #VirendraBhaisaheb #Dadda #VirendraKumarSinghChaudhary #InternalEmergency #Emergency
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