Book Review on “The Case that Shook India”

This is a book review on “The Case That Shook India” written by Mr. Prashant Bhushan, who is an Indian human rights lawyer, social activist and a politician. Although this book was published in 1978, it went out of print for quite some time. It was re-published recently by Penguin India. This book depicts one of the landmark cases of the history of the Indian judiciary, that is “INDIRA NEHRU GANDHI v/s RAJ NARAIN” (also known as State of Uttar Pradesh v/s Raj Narain) in which the election of the then Prime Minister of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi was challenged by her opponent, Mr. Raj Narain which was heard at the Allahabad High Court. The court found her guilty for malpractices during her election campaign following which, she was barred for holding her office for next 6 years. Following the judgement from the High Court, a state of Emergency was declared from June 1975 till January 1977. The book focuses on the day-to-day proceedings lucidly, bringing out the matters carefully along with legal and political implications that led to 21-month period long Emergency, bringing the creases in the democratic fabric of India. Shanti Bhushan, an imminent lawyer and the author’s father, was appointed by Mr Raj Narain. The author, who was young back then, was allowed to witness the courtroom proceedings. This is how he got the first-hand information of the same. Although the proceedings are usually tedious, noting what was observed during the proceedings, is not an easy task, unlike other countries where you can just get the final judgement of the case.