Dhun Mehta hollered a greeting as he passed by the compound of our office on the morning of June 26, 1975. Were we aware, he inquired, that prominent opposition leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, Jyoti Basu, LK Advani and others had been arrested, censorship imposed and a state of emergency declared in the country?

We confessed total ignorance.

The morning papers had made no mention of any such developments. Mehta, a former neighbour, said he had heard the news on BBC Radio earlier that day.

There was no reason to doubt the veracity of his startling announcement. Jayaprakash Narayan had been demanding Prime Minister Indira Gandhi resign office after the Allahabad High Court on June 12 had found her guilty of electoral malpractices while contesting her parliamentary seat from Rai Bareilly in the 1971 general elections.

She had appealed the verdict and appointed noted lawyer and civil rights advocate Nani Palkhivala to argue her case. Much to the surprise and chagrin of many civic-minded libertarians, Palkhivala had agreed. Indira Gandhi’s younger son, Sanjay, reportedly urged his mother to adopt a more contrarian stance.

Sadly, fearful of losing her legal appeal, the beleaguered Indira Gandhi succumbed despite Palkhivala assuring her she had a good case. She opted to suspend the civil liberties...

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