Victims Of 1975 Emergency Move Supreme Court Seeking Designation As "Freedom Fighter"

The Supreme Court had in December last year agreed to examine whether a simpliciter declaration that the Emergency of 1975 was unconstitutional and whether it would be feasible or desirable to probe this issue after a passage of 45 years. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Dinesh Maheshwari & Hrishikesh Roy issued notice on the petition by a 94 year old and granted leave to the petitioner to amend the petition on the aspect of the restricted issue.

The applicant praying for intervention now claims to be an umbrella organisation which covers within its ambit several organisations set up in several states across the nation consisting of the victims of the said Emergency Period. The Applicant Committee says that it has been actively taking steps before the appropriate authorities for several years now to ensure that their members shall receive the proper status in the society for their sufferings at the hands of the erstwhile government. "The Applicant Committee has been at the forefront of ensuring welfare of the 'Loktantra Senanis', i.e. their member victims, and in pursuance of such a purpose have made several representations, both at the State level as well as the Centre level to ensure that the Loktantra Senanis are provided with their well-deserved status and recognition", it is averred.

It is submitted that over 1,10,000 people from across the Nation were illegally detained during the darkest era of the Indian Democracy, i.e. during the emergency of 1975-1977.All of them were brutally tortured, both mentally and physically, whereafter, many were left with permanent injuries on their body and/or on their psyche. Bones were broken, genetelia were hammered, people were made to lay on ice bricks for hours, and several other brutalities were commonplace in the holding cells in the jails of the Nation during the said period.

It is further submitted that several states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, etc. have provided to such victims pension as well as medical help, travelling allowances, and other benefits and formally recognised them as being the 'Loktantra Senanis' of the Nation, thus, imparting upon them the honour which displayed the State's recognition of their suffering but also their Herculean strength and courage, which they demonstrated during the impugned period of Emergency. "In fact, all the above states have also proceeded to publish notifications in this regard. However, these facilities were being intermittently provided and were not provided in a consistent manner and often taken away altogether due to the politics in the State as per the convenience of the Party in power at any given time. For instance, Pension and Honours were withdrawn after being bestowed in the States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra merely due to the change of the ruling Party in the State", it is urged.

It is advanced that in Madhya Pradesh, it was only in the year 2018 that such Honours and Pension came to be reinstated by virtue of the Madhya Pradesh Loktantra Senani Samman Adhiniyam, 2018. However, in the other two States as aforementioned where such honours were withdrawn, the same have not been reinstated till date.

It is submitted that these people forming part of the Applicant organisation are those who fought for the preservation of "the democratic roots of our Nation, a Nation that every Indian today can be proud of". It is the submission of the Applicant that had it not been for the struggle of these Loktantra Senanis, then perhaps, "the Nation that we see today could never have existed". "This has even been recognised by the erstwhile Prime Minister of the Nation, Sh. Morarji Desai", it is said.

It is also stated that the various High Courts have also recognised the plight of the Applicant members and have held that it is the moral and social responsibility of the State and the society to take care of, look after and recognise and honour people participating in and suffering in social movements for the public and National cause.

It is submitted that the All India Loktantra Senani Joint Action Committee had organised protests in Delhi -Hunger strike (Anshan) at Rajghat and Protest demonstration at Jantar Mantar on 4th& 5th December, 2019 which was participated by and attended by over 2000 Loktantra Senanis coming from 19 States of India. The Joint Action Committee's Charter of demands and Memorandum were collected by Senior Police officers and Intelligence Branch people and were also directly submitted to the Prime Minister's office and Home Minister's office. Similar exercise was also done at Chief Minister and Rajyapal levels at various States.

It is advanced that ten States have recognized the Loktantra Senanis/ Applicant members and have also extended Pension or Sanman Nidhi to them from Rs. 15,000/- to Rs. 25,000/- per month plus free health and travelling passes. In the said ten States, over 50,000 Loktantra Senanis were beneficiaries.

"On the other hand, in the other seventeen States the Applicant members are still suffering. It is further pertinent to note that many of the Applicant members have died and many are in their sunset period. At present, there are estimated 50,000 emergency survivors who are suffering physically, psychologically, due to loss of business, service, career, source of income etc. due to the imposition and atrocities inflicted during the emergency and have not been able to recover from the trauma till date", it is contended.