The period 1973-75, witnessed rising discontent against the Indira Gandhi government due to high inflation, failure of monsoon, poor management of food grains, unemployment and corruption. This was further followed by students’ protests in Bihar and Gujarat, and tussle with the Judiciary. Amidst this, the government declared Emergency on June 26, 1975 on the ground of threat of internal disturbances by invoking Article 352 of the Constitution. The period of Emergency is considered as the dark age of Indian democracy because of the following reasons:

• Suspension of Fundamental Rights (FR): Various FRs of citizens stood suspended, including the right of citizens to move the court for restoring their fundamental rights. Also, protests, strikes and public agitations were not allowed.
• Judiciary was made subservient to the Executive: This was done through a series of laws and constitutional amendments. For instance, the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976, placed the order of detention beyond judicial review.
• Poor functioning of the Parliament: The Parliament was crippled with no effective deliberations and debates, as most of the opposition MPs were under preventive detention. Further, self-serving amendments of the Constitution like the 42nd Amendment Act, were introduced in a hurry.
• Disregard of federal principles: The tenets of federal principles were overlooked and the state governments were rigidly controlled by the union Executive. For example, the two non- Congress governments, DMK in Tamil Nadu and Janata Party in Gujarat, were dismissed.
• Restrictions on the press and civil society: The government curtailed the freedom of press via press censorship. It was mandatory to get government approval before publishing anything in the newspaper. Further, religious and cultural organisations like the R.S.S & Jamaat- e-Islami were banned.
• Impingement on the rights of opposition parties: The government misused the provision of preventive detention by issuing draconian laws like the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and arrested the political workers of opposition parties. It gave the officials broad powers like indefinite preventive detention of individuals, search and seizure of property without warrants, thus sabotaging the opposition parties.
• Forced sterilization: The government initiated a widespread compulsory sterilization programme to limit population growth. An astonishing 6.2 million Indian men were sterilised in just one year. Though family planning is appreciated, forced sterilisation went against one’s right of procreation.

The rampant abuse of power during the period made the leaders realise that sufficient checks and balances were required to prevent subversion of the rule of law and democratic institutions. Therefore, the ambiguities regarding the Emergency provisions in the Constitution were rectified by the 44th Amendment Act, 1978, wherein “Internal Emergency” could be proclaimed only on the ground of “armed rebellion”. Further, it became necessary for the Council of Ministers to advice the President in writing to proclaim National Emergency. The lifting of the Emergency and the free elections that followed revealed the underlying attachment of Indian people to democratic values including the importance of civil liberties and freedom of expression.