Opinion August 26, Forty Years Ago: Basic Structure
Here is what happened on August 26, forty years ago.
The 39th amendment to the Constitution destroyed the “basic structure” and the “institutional pattern” of the Constitution and was thus beyond the power of Parliament, Shanti Bhushan argued in the Supreme Court. Bhushan, counsel for Raj Narain, was addressing the court on the validity of the 39th amendment, by which the jurisdiction of the court had been taken away in matters relating to the election of the president, vice president, prime minister and speaker.
War On Usury
The Centre was readying a scheme to curb the ‘‘pernicious practices of money-lending by non-institutional agencies” and reduce the burden of indebtedness of industrial workers based on the suggestions made at the state labour ministers’ conference. The conference had proposed deterrent punishment for usurers and a ceiling on their income, as well as the creation of alternative institutional agencies to take care of workers’ legitimate needs “at reasonable rates of interest”. It suggested that ancestral debts and debts beyond “certain limits” should be “wiped out”.
Patna Flooded
The army was engaged in a massive rescue operation in Patna after the waters of the Ganga and the Sone submerged the western and the central parts of the city. Flood waters forced their way into several localities of western Patna around noon, taking even Raj Bhavan and the quarters of ministers, legislators and officers in their rapacious stride, a report said.
Cross-border Friends
Bangladesh President Khondokar Moshtaque Ahmed, in a message to PM Indira Gandhi, said his government “deeply cherishes and values” the existing bonds of friendship between the two countries. The message was delivered by the Bangladesh high commissioner. Gandhi reciprocated the feelings of friendship and regard.
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