New Delhi, March 16 Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday recalled that eminent jurist Nani Palkhivala had penned a letter to then-prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975, in which he dismissed a verdict of the Allahabad High Court against her, saying it was “erroneous” in both fact and law.
On June 12, 1975, Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court declared Indira Gandhi's 1971 election from Rae Bareli void due to electoral malpractice.
The ruling found her guilty of using government resources for campaigning, setting in motion a political crisis that led to the declaration of Emergency on June 25, 1975.
Ramesh recalled the court ruling and Palkhivala's letter in a post, also noting that former Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, retired as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
“In his only speech in the Rajya Sabha on August 7, 2023, Shri Gogoi drew attention to T R Andhyarujina’s book titled ‘Kesavananda Bharati Case’.
“The book provides fascinating and unusual archival details on how the Supreme Court established the ‘basic structure’ doctrine on April 24, 1973. Anyone interested in our political and legal history should read Mr. Andhyarujina’s gripping narrative," Ramesh said in a post on X.
“There is another reason why this book is so valuable. It is the only place where Mr. Nani Palkhivala’s letter dated November 9, 1975, to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, has been published in full. No biography of the great Mr. Palkivala makes any reference to it," Ramesh said.
In the letter, the legal luminary dismissed the June 12, 1975, verdict of the single judge bench of the Allahabad High Court that profoundly changed Indian politics, Ramesh said, sharing screenshots of the letter.
In his letter to Indira Gandhi, Palkhivala said, "My dear Indiraji, I am personally very happy that the litigation regarding your election is at long last over. There has never been any doubt in my mind that the judgment of the Allahabad High Court was erroneous in fact and in law, and you deserved to succeed on every count – regardless of the subsequent amendments to the Constitution and to the Representation of the Peoples Act. Please accept my sincerest felicitations.”
Palkhivala also urged Indira Gandhi to consider the consequences of seeking to have the judgment in Kesavananda's case overturned.
“We have reached a historic moment when two roads diverge: in the wood, and your own decision at this juncture can have an imponderable impact for the good of the country,” the jurist said.
“The hearing in the Supreme Court on the correctness of Kesavananda's case begins tomorrow. It need not continue unless the government wants it to. Believe me, my respectful appeal to you is not made out of any lack of confidence in the case for holding Parliament's amending power to be limited, but it is based upon my belief that it would be a great gesture on your part to withdraw the state's plea for unsettling the law," Palkivala said in the letter.
