SC: Emergency led to fertile conditions for destruction of liberty

By Sumit Saxena New Delhi, Oct 2 : The Supreme Court said the experiences gained from the Emergency era are sobering lessons, which should warn against endowing a statute, susceptible of grave misuse.
The observation by the top court was made on the contentions of the Gujarat government that the pandemic has resulted in an internal disturbance. This was used to justify its notification to extract additional hours from workers without paying wages for the overtime.
The apex court has quashed this notification.
A bench comprising Justice D. Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices Indu Malhotra and K. M. Joseph cited the emergency declared in 1962 and 1971, when India fought wars with China and Pakistan; and the Emergency in 1975, where the government declared that a “grave emergency exists whereby the security of India is threatened by ‘internal disturbance’.” The forty fourth amendment to the Constitution sought to limit recourse to emergency powers under Article 352 to prevent their abuse.
The bench said a proclamation of emergency now cannot be issued on a mere internal disturbance and must reach the threshold of an armed rebellion threatening the security of India.