''Is There An Undeclared Emergency?': Sr Adv Menaka Guruswamy Flags Mass Detentions; Reminds Supreme Court Of ADM Jabalpur Verdict

During the hearing of the CEC protest matter, Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy today alleged several fundamental rights' violations by police authorities and questioned whether the State had indirectly imposed an undeclared Emergency. The senior counsel reminded the court of its decades-old ADM Jabalpur decision, while relying on other judicial precedents which ruled that Article 19 rights, such as freedom of speech and expression, can be restricted only during an Emergency. "The Constitution says in Article 358 that Article 19 rights can be restricted only in the case when an Emergency is imposed. Is the State saying that they have brought in an un-imposed Emergency? In the past, there were judgments passed that only in case of Emergency, Article 19 rights can be suspended. You are assembled here today because something graver is at stake. Suspension of citizens' right to peacefully protest.