Yogi Adityanath criticized the Congress party for imposing the 1975 Emergency and undermining Indian democracy.
The UP Chief Minister called the Emergency a dark chapter that suspended fundamental rights and silenced constitutional freedoms.
He urged the public to remember Congress's authoritarian past to protect the nation's democratic principles.
UP CM Adityanath Slams Congress For Emergency
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath severely criticized the Congress party over the 1975 Emergency, calling it a dark chapter in India's democracy and a display of authoritarianism
Summary
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched a scathing attack on the Congress on Saturday for imposing the Emergency, saying, "1975 showed the country the difference between the rule of law and the ruler of law."
Speaking at the 5th convocation of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University in Lucknow, Adityanath said, "Remember, this is the very same Uttar Pradesh where, on June 12, (1975) the High Court annulled the election of the person occupying the most powerful office in India. And, in direct response to that, an Emergency was imposed across the country just 13 days later."
Then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency in 1975.
The chief minister said, "1975 has shown the country the difference between the rule of law and the ruler of law. It has imparted this lesson to us."
Referring to the ADM Jabalpur v Shivkant Shukla (1976) habeas corpus case during the Emergency, Adityanath said Justice Hans Raj Khanna had to pay a price for his dissenting opinion.
In 1976, the five-judge bench, by a majority 4:1 verdict, decided the issue of whether an order issued by the President under Article 359(1) of the Constitution suspends the right of a person to move a court for enforcement of the right to personal liberty under Article 21 upon being detained under a law providing for preventive detention.
The Emergency was imposed in the country for 21 months, from 1975 to 1977. The period was characterised by the curtailment of civil liberties, mass arrest of opposition leaders, protesters and press censorship.
In August 2017, the Supreme Court overruled "expressly" the four-decades-old controversial Emergency era verdict by which citizens were denied the right to approach a court to challenge detentions during the proclamation, as it held the right to privacy was a fundamental right.
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