Culpable insouciance and turpitudinous procrastinations - besetting sin of Indian Judiciary - Erudite brevity is better than shallow prolixity
23rd June 1975 - a vacation judge of the Supreme Court is all set to hear a very important Stay Petition. The petitioner is the all-powerful Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, whose election to the Lok Sabha was set aside by the Allahabad High Court. Appearing for the Prime Minister was the legendary Nani Palkhiwala and against was the legend in the making Shanti Bhushan. The Judge asked the lawyers if they were prepared to skip lunch, so that hearing could be finished on that day. The lawyers agreed and the marathon arguments continued till 5pm without a break and without lunch. The Judge announced that he would pronounce the judgement the next day.
24th June 1975 - the vacation judge pronounced his verdict at 3pm. 5000 copies of the judgement were printed and a copy was made available to anyone who wanted it.The previous day the Law Minister Gokhale wanted to see the Judge and the Judge refused to meet him.
Anyway, the Judge granted an interim stay - the most famous Stay Order of the Indian Supreme Court, but a conditional one; the Prime Minister was barred from voting in the Lok Sabha or participating in debates. The Judge observed, "After all, the High Court's finding, until upset, holds good, however weak it may ultimately prove."
While granting Stay, he observed, "Now the Parliament is not in session and the veto on the right to vote is currently academic. Situations may develop, circumstances may change and this order itself, like any interlocutory order, is provisional. If new events like the convening of Parliament take place or fresh considerations crop up warranting the review of the restrictions in this stay order, the petitioner-appellant will be at liberty to move a Division Bench of this Court again to modify the restrictions or pray for an unconditional stay."
But there was one situation which even this wise judge could not foresee. The next day on 25th June Madam Gandhi imposed the Emergency and throttled the very essence of democracy rendering even the courts powerless.
The judge who gave interim stay to Mrs. Gandhi later said, Maybe I was myopic in not anticipating the imponderables which led to the midnight promulgation of the Emergency.
The Judge was Justice Krishna Iyer.
On his retirement from the Supreme Court, the Bar said,