25 June 1975
At midnight, police cut power to every newspaper press in Delhi. Blank arrest warrants were signed. By morning, over a thousand opposition leaders were in jail. At 6 AM, the Prime Minister went on the radio.
“भाइयों और बहनों, राष्ट्रपति जी ने आपातकाल की घोषणा की है।”
“Brothers and sisters, the President has proclaimed Emergency.”
President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed signed the proclamation late on June 25 before the Cabinet even met, violating constitutional procedure.
Source: Original All India Radio Broadcast (Hindi), 26 June 1975
Sources: Shah Commission of Inquiry (1978), Supreme Court records, parliamentary archives.
Government employees denied salary until they produced vasectomy cases
DDA bulldozers razed homes. When residents resisted, police opened fire.
Blank arrest warrants signed by magistrates. Names filled in later.
Power to newspaper presses cut at midnight. Chief Censors installed the next morning.
Court rules 4-1: citizens have no right to life or liberty during Emergency.
Engineering student tortured to death. Actress denied medical care until terminal.
Allahabad High Court finds Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractice. Her election declared void.
Supreme Court grants only a conditional stay: she may remain PM but cannot vote in Parliament.
Jayaprakash Narayan addresses a massive rally at Ramlila Grounds. That night, President Ahmed signs the Emergency proclamation. Power to newspaper presses is cut off. Arrests begin.
Indira Gandhi broadcasts on All India Radio: "There is nothing to panic about." Over 1,000 leaders are already in jail.
Indian Express and The Statesman publish blank editorials: just black borders around empty columns: in protest against censorship.
Turkman Gate demolitions. Police fire on residents. Sanjay Gandhi's forced sterilization drive peaks.
Supreme Court rules 4-1 that citizens have no right to life during Emergency. Justice Khanna dissents alone.
Indira Gandhi, believing her own intelligence reports, announces fresh elections.
She loses Rae Bareli by 55,200 votes. Congress wins zero seats in UP, Bihar, Punjab, and Haryana. Emergency lifted.
Shah Commission of Inquiry appointed under former Chief Justice J.C. Shah to investigate Emergency excesses.
"A dissent in a court of last resort is an appeal to the brooding spirit of the law, to the intelligence of a future day."