Decode Politics: Fresh call to table Shah Commission probe on Emergency. Where is the ‘lost’ report?

What was the Shah Commission report?

Disqualified as an MP over a poll violation, and staring at the prospect of losing her chair, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975, invoked Article 352 of the Constitution to declare internal Emergency. Consequently, the country saw the suspension of civil liberties, mass arrests of political opponents, and widespread press censorship.

The Emergency would last nearly two years. Then, taking everyone by surprise, Indira Gandhi lifted the same on March 21, 1977, and announced general elections.

In the polls that followed, the Janata Party – a coalition including the Jana Sangh (the precursor of the BJP), Indian National Congress (Organisation) and the Bharatiya Lok Dal, among others – emerged victorious, forming the first non-Congress government at the Centre. The Janata Party declared Morarji Desai, one of the Opposition leaders who spent time in prison during the Emergency, as its leader.

On May 28, 1977, two months after coming to power, the Janata Party government announced the setting up of a Commission of Inquiry headed by former Chief Justice of India Jayantilal Chotilal Shah, to look into the allegations of abuse of power, subversion of the law and other excesses during the Emergency.

How did the Shah Commission go about collecting evidence?

The Commission invited complaints from the general public, fixing July 31, 1977, as the deadline for receiving them. It received 48,500 complaints in all, of which it shortlisted crucial cases to inquire into.

On September 29, 1977, the Commission held open sessions to hear oral evidence from witnesses and receive submissions from those accused of excesses, or those who could shed some light on the same.

Prominent members of the former Indira Gandhi Cabinet deposed before the commission, including Law Minister H R Gokhale, Finance Minister C Subramaniam, and Civil Aviation Minister Raj Bahadur. However, Indira Gandhi herself staunchly refused to make a statement.

In his book ‘India Since Independence: Making Sense of Indian Politics’, Sikkim University professor V Krishna Ananth wrote: “Indira Gandhi… sought to frustrate the Enquiry by all means. Initially, she took the plea that she will not depose before the Commission on the grounds that her actions, as the prime minister, were bound by the Oath of Secrecy. When this strategy failed, she demanded that she be allowed to cross-examine the others who deposed. This was also disallowed and finally, Indira would refuse to say anything before the Commission except making a long speech that went on for over 30 minutes.”

Did the Shah Commission submit its report?

The Commission submitted two interim reports and one final report. The first report, submitted on March 11, 1978, detailed specific instances of the Indira Gandhi government subverting legal and administrative processes to make appointments to key positions (such as the RBI Governor) and abusing the criminal process through illegal detentions and false criminal complaints.

The second interim report, submitted on April 26, 1978, addressed the Turkman Gate Firing incident of Old Delhi. Indira Gandhi’s son and Congress MP Sanjay Gandhi was accused of pushing for the demolition of slums in the area, to clear the residents out and resettle them elsewhere. The residents took to the streets, and a crowd of over 5,000 protesters and rioters was fired upon to clear the way for the bulldozers.

The Shah Commission submitted its final report on August 6, 1978, and this one dealt extensively with the government’s controversial ‘Family Planning Programme’, also known to be a Sanjay Gandhi initiative. It was alleged that unwilling men were forced into sterilisation camps and compelled to undergo vasectomy. The report also contained state-wise details on arrests and detentions during this time, and the conditions inside jails.

What happened to the report?

The internal bickering that began soon after the Janata Party government was formed eventually caused it to fall by 1979. The Shah Commission report was perhaps no longer the embattled government’s priority, and was never tabled. In the 1980 elections, Indira Gandhi and the Congress made a triumphant return to power, winning 353 seats.

Since the Shah Commission had been solely tasked with fact-finding as per the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, it meant it was not authorised to take any action of its own accord. Only the government could decide how to proceed with its findings.

An Indian Express report of July 4, 2000, quoted an official who was part of the Commission saying: “All the cases (by the Commission) were slowed down, and slowly killed, either by not pursuing them or by not prosecuting the guilty.” The official also said that “the government seems to have ordered to destroy all the copies of the inquiry report”. High-level officials involved with the Commission’s functions saw promotions delayed and criminal cases filed against them under the new regime, said the Express report.

In his book ‘Shah Commission Report: Lost, and Regained’ published in 2010, former MP Era Sezhiyan included both the interim and final reports of the Shah Commission.

The leader who was part of the anti-Emergency movement and associated with the DMK wrote in his book: “The withdrawal and further actions of disapproval of the Shah Commission Report in 1980 by the then Government has succeeded in creating a view in general from the web-sites, biographers… to believe that ‘not a single copy of the Shah Commission Report has survived within India’… But the history of world literature has proved that it is not easy to make a good book to be ‘dead’ and ‘buried’.”

In addition to this, copies of the report are now available online, including on the BJP Central Library website.