Are we enduring an Emergency by stealth?

"Almost exactly 46 years ago, on 12 June 1975, Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha of Allahabad High Court" "found then prime minister Indira Gandhi guilty of misuse of government machinery during her election campaign in 1971. Sinha cancelled her election and barred her from contesting any election for six years," wrote Sandipan Deb. On 25 June, "minutes before the clock struck midnight, a compliant president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed signed the proclamation of Emergency", Mint, which lasted 21 months until 21st March 1977, Economic Times (ET). "And all this because rule of law had completely been eliminated by the Supreme Court ruling in the ADM Jabalpur case (April 1976), which overruled the view of nine high courts that the legality of detaining order passed by the governments could still be examined", wrote Justice Rajinder Sachar, "But to our shame the Supreme Court by a majority of four judges against one honourable exception (Khanna J) laid down a proposition of law which forever will remain a hallmark of shame". Though Article 352 was amended in 1978 by the Morarji Desai government to allow the President to proclaim Emergency only if "security of India or of any part of the territory thereof is threatened, whether by war or external aggression or armed rebellion", The Week, can it be introduced by stealth? On 5 June, the Supreme Court quashed sedition charges against veteran journalist Vinod Dua "for making statements against the Narendra Modi government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic", The Print. Tanushree Pandey was witness to how the UP Police forcibly burnt the body of a 19-year old victim of  gang-rape in the middle of the night after locking the family inside their house on threat of violence. "As I left taking with me wails of a mother who wanted to see her daughter one last time, a father who couldn't save his child and a brother who may never believe the system again," wrote Pandey. Instead, to muddy waters, UP Police filed a nearly 5,000 page chargesheet against journalist Siddique Kappan and seven others, "charging them with sedition and conspiring to incite caste violence, among others, following the Hathras gang-rape and murder", The Indian Express (TIE). In the World Press Freedom Index 2021 India was ranked at 142 out of 180 countries, below Nepal at 106 and Sri Lanka at 127 but higher than China, Pakistan and Bangladesh. "India's status as a free country has changed to 'partly free', according to an annual report on global political rights and liberties," BBC. New laws have been passed. "Under UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) and NSA (National Security Act), bail can be denied almost indefinitely. In many cases, the state is not even under any obligation to present a credible case to the court nor present charges in a time bound manner," wrote Pankaj Butalia. "All governments since 1950 have liberally used illiberal laws to stifle dissent," wrote Manoj Joshi. "The real punishment is not the arrest; it is the case which drags on; first there is a chargesheet, then a supplementary one, then adjournments and so on," Times of India (TOI). Why doesn't the Supreme Court mandate time bound judgement? Three features -- "judicial evasion, judicial deference, and judicial inconsistency -- have become staples of the system over the last few years. The effect of each one has been to benefit the State," wrote Gautam Bhatia. Chief Justice Gogoi's "tenure remained mired in controversies ranging from allegations of sexual harassment against him" and "CJ Bobde's tenure was marked by a reluctance to hear cases affecting people's life, liberty," wrote Justice Rekha Sharma. At least, "Mrs Gandhi was a strong personality relentlessly pursuing India's national interest with single-mindedness and finesse," wrote Henry Kissinger who hated her. What will be the judgement when future generations see the palace built at a time when hundreds of thousands were dying of coronavirus? They will not be restricted by sedition.