'Changed the course of politics': Jairam Ramesh on Palkhivala's letter to Indira Gandhi rubbishing 1975 verdict

In June 1975, Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court declared Indira Gandhi's 1971 election from Rae Bareli void due to electoral malpractice.

New Delhi: 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 rubbished a verdict of the Allahabad High Court against her, saying it was "erroneous" on facts and in 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 in which he also noted that former chief justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, retired as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

"In the only speech he (Gogoi) ever made 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 detail on how the Supreme Court put in place the 'basic structure' doctrine on April 24. 1973. Anybody interested in our political and legal history must read Mr Andhyarujina's gripping narrative," Ramesh said in a post on X.

"There is another reason why the 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 rubbished the June 12, 1975, verdict of the single judge bench of the Allahabad High Court that changed the course of Indian politics profoundly, 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 on facts 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 overruled.

"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.