January 22, 2026

The Emergency Papers (1975-77) Access the Shah Commission Report & Censorship Orders

The Emergency Papers (1975-77): Access the Shah Commission Report & Censorship Orders description: "The ultimate 24x7 guide to the Emergency era documents. Read the full Shah Commission Report on excesses, the text of the 1975 Proclamation, the Censorship Guidelines for newspapers, and the 42nd Amendment 'Mini-Constitution'." date: 2026-01-13 author: Resources Desk | Sansad Online tags: [The Emergency 1975, Shah Commission Report, Indira Gandhi, Censorship, 42nd Amendment, MISA, Jayaprakash Narayan, Democracy Archive]

📂 24x7 Resource: The Emergency Papers (1975-77)

The Dark Archive

Access the documents from the 21 months that suspended democracy.

  • Key Document: The Shah Commission of Inquiry Report (3 Volumes).
  • Date of Proclamation: June 25, 1975.
  • Revoked: March 21, 1977.
  • Key Law: MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act).
🏛️ THE MIDNIGHT ORDER: "The President has proclaimed Emergency. There is nothing to panic about." — Indira Gandhi's All India Radio broadcast, June 26, 1975.

Introduction: When Darkness Fell

(Why You Must Read These Papers)

On the night of June 25, 1975, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed signed a proclamation under Article 352 of the Constitution, declaring that "internal disturbance" threatened the security of India.

For the next 21 months, India ceased to be a democracy.

  • Fundamental Rights were suspended.
  • Opposition leaders (JP, Morarji Desai, Vajpayee, Advani) were arrested.
  • Newspapers were censored (blank editorials became famous).
  • Forced sterilizations (Nasbandi) were carried out in the name of population control.

When the Janata Party won the 1977 election, they appointed the Shah Commission (led by former Chief Justice J.C. Shah) to investigate the "excesses" committed during this time. The Commission produced a blistering 3-volume report. However, when Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980, the government tried to recall and destroy every copy of this report. It became a "banned" book for years.

Today, digital archives have preserved it. This "24x7 Resource Page" helps you access the Shah Commission Report—the definitive autopsy of authoritarianism—along with the legal texts that turned the Constitution upside down.

🔍 The Holy Grail: The Shah Commission Report

This is the most important document in this archive. It details how the police, the bureaucracy, and the media crawled when asked to bend.

How to Access It

Since the government stopped printing it decades ago, it is available via independent archives.

  • Source: Internet Archive (Search "Shah Commission of Inquiry Interim Report").
  • Volume I: Deals with the circumstances leading to the Emergency (The "Midnight Knock").
  • Volume II: Deals with the misuse of media and the demolition of slums (Turkman Gate incident).
  • Volume III: Deals with the police atrocities and jail conditions.

What to Read Inside?

  • Chapter 5 (Misuse of Media): Read how electricity was cut to newspaper offices on the night of June 25 so they couldn't print the morning edition.
  • Case Studies: The report documents specific cases of how Kishore Kumar's songs were banned from AIR because he refused to perform at a Youth Congress rally.

📜 The "Black Laws": MISA and COFEPOSA

To understand the terror of 1975, you must read the laws that enabled it.

1. MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act)

  • The Law: It allowed the government to arrest anyone without warrant and detain them without trial.
  • The "Habeas Corpus" Case (ADM Jabalpur): The Supreme Court famously ruled (4:1) that during an Emergency, a citizen has no right to life or liberty. Justice H.R. Khanna was the lone dissenter. His dissenting judgment is a must-read legal classic.

2. COFEPOSA

  • Target: Smugglers and foreign exchange violators.
  • Misuse: Often used to target political funders of the Opposition.

✂️ The Censorship Guidelines

The archive contains the actual "Guidelines for the Press" issued by the Chief Censor.

  • Rule 1: No criticism of the Prime Minister, President, or the Emergency proclamation.
  • Rule 2: No reports on family planning resistance.
  • The "Blank Editorial": The Indian Express (Ramnath Goenka) famously published a blank editorial space to protest censorship. This visual is iconic.

⚖️ The "Mini-Constitution": 42nd Amendment (1976)

During the Emergency, the Parliament (with Opposition MPs in jail) passed the 42nd Amendment Act. It rewrote large parts of the Constitution.

Key Changes (Some later reversed by 44th Amendment):

  1. Preamble: Added "Socialist" and "Secular." (This remains today).
  2. Judicial Review: Tried to stop the Supreme Court from reviewing constitutional amendments.
  3. Fundamental Duties: Added Part IV-A (Article 51A). (This remains today).
  4. President's Power: Made it mandatory for the President to act on the advice of the Cabinet (stripping him of any discretion).

🏛️ The Resistance Archive: Underground Literature

With the press gagged, news traveled via "Underground Pamphlets."

  • The Satyagrahis: The RSS and Socialist groups printed secret newsletters (like Satya Samachar) circulated by hand on trains and buses.
  • George Fernandes: The "Baroda Dynamite Case" documents show the more militant side of the resistance.

Your historical toolkit:

  • Shah Commission Report (PDF): Internet Archive Link (Note: Ensure you find the digitized copy).
  • ADM Jabalpur Judgment: Read Full Text (The "Darkest Hour" of the Supreme Court).
  • Prime Minister's Museum (Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya): Has a dedicated "Emergency Gallery" in Delhi with audio-visual archives.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. Can an Emergency happen again?

It is much harder now.

  • The 44th Amendment (1978): Changed the ground from "Internal Disturbance" (vague) to "Armed Rebellion" (specific).
  • Written Advice: The President can now proclaim Emergency only upon the written advice of the Cabinet (not just the PM's verbal order).
  • Judicial Review: The Supreme Court can now strike down an Emergency proclamation if it is found to be mala fide (Minerva Mills case).

Q2. Who was the "Dictator" behind the scenes?

Historical accounts and the Shah Commission point to Sanjay Gandhi (Indira's younger son) as the extra-constitutional authority who ran the administration, ordered the demolitions, and pushed the sterilization drive, despite holding no official government post.

Q3. Did any newspaper surrender?

L.K. Advani famously said about the media: "You were asked only to bend, but you crawled." Many big newspapers praised the Emergency out of fear. Only a few like The Indian Express and The Statesman fought back.

Q4. What is the "Turkman Gate" incident?

It was a police firing on residents of the Turkman Gate area in Old Delhi who were protesting against the forced demolition of their homes and slums during the "beautification" drive. The exact death toll remains disputed (censored at the time).

Q5. Why is it called the "Second Freedom Struggle"?

Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) called for "Total Revolution" (Sampoorna Kranti). The 1977 election, which defeated Indira Gandhi, is often seen as the second liberation of India—this time from domestic authoritarianism.

Bookmark this page. Freedom is not free. These papers are the receipt of the price paid.