ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla

ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla was a landmark judgement of the Supreme Court of India pertaining to the suspension of Articles 21 and 226 of the Indian Constitution in the event of a National Emergency. This controversial judgment of P.N. Bhagwati, decreed during the emergency from 25 June 1975 to 21 March 1977, held that a person's right to not be unlawfully detained (i.e. habeas corpus) can be suspended in the interest of the State. This judgment received a lot of criticism since it reduced the importance attached to Fundamental Rights under the Indian Constitution. Going against the previous decisions of High Courts, the bench which included P. N. Bhagwati concluded by a majority 4:1 in favour of the then Indira Gandhi government while only Justice Hans Raj Khanna was opposed to it. Bhagwati openly praised Indira Gandhi during the Emergency period, later criticized her when Janata Party-led government was formed and again backed Gandhi when she got re-elected to form government in 1980. Bhagwati was criticized for these change of stands, favouring the ruling government, which were deemed as to have been taken to better his career prospects.[2] Bhagwati later in 2011 agreed with popular opinion that this judgement was short-sighted and apologised.[3][2]

ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla
CourtSupreme Court of India
Full case nameAdditional District Magistrate, Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla
Citation(s)AIR 1976 SC 1207
Case history
Subsequent action(s)Overruled by Puttuswamy v. Union of India
Court membership
Judges sittingA.N. Ray, M.H. Beg, Hans Raj Khanna, Y.V. Chandrachud and P. N. Bhagwati
Case opinions
Decision byA.N. Ray, M.H. Beg, Y.V. Chandrachud, P. N. Bhagwati and Hans Raj Khanna[1]
ConcurrenceA.N. Ray, M.H. Beg, Y.V. Chandrachud and P. N. Bhagwati
DissentHans Raj Khanna
Laws applied
Overruled by
Puttuswamy v. Union of India (2017)

Dissent

Justice Hans Raj Khanna was the sole dissenter among the five judges. In retaliation for his dissent, he was later overlooked during the appointment of the Chief Justice.[4]

Reception

According to Ajay Kumar of Firstpost, "the judgment has been viewed as a stain on the legacy of the court for many years. The ratio decidendi (rationale behind the judgment) that all rights under our Constitution are a positive creation of law rather than merely recognised greatly increases the power of the State to do what it likes with them."

Overruled

The ADM Jabalpur case was overruled on the doctrinal grounds concerning the rights by the Puttaswamy v. Union of India delivered by a nine judge, constitutional bench of the Supreme court. At the paragraph 119 of the majority opinion the Court had ruled:[4]

"The judgments rendered by all the four judges constituting the majority in Additional District Magistrate, Jabalpur are seriously flawed. Life and personal liberty are inalienable to human existence. These rights are, as recognised in Kesavananda Bharati, primordial rights. They constitute rights under natural law.

The human element in the life of the individual is integrally founded on the sanctity of life. Dignity is associated with liberty and freedom. No civilised state can contemplate an encroachment upon life and personal liberty without the authority of law.

"Neither life nor liberty are bounties conferred by the State nor does the Constitution create these rights.

"The right to life has existed even before the advent of the Constitution. In recognising the right, the Constitution does not become the sole repository of the right. It would be preposterous to suggest that a democratic Constitution without a Bill of Rights would leave individuals governed by the State without either the existence of the right to live or the means of enforcement of the right. The right to life being inalienable to each individual, it existed prior to the Constitution and continued in force under Article of the Constitution.

"Justice Khanna was clearly right in holding that the recognition of the right to life and personal liberty under the Constitution does not denude the existence of that right, apart from it nor can there be a fatuous assumption that in adopting the Constitution the people of India surrendered the most precious aspect of the human persona, namely, life, liberty and freedom to the State on whose mercy these rights would depend. Such a construct is contrary to the basic foundation of the rule of law which imposes restraints upon the powers vested in the modern state when it deals with the liberties of the individual.

"The power of the Court to issue a writ of habeas corpus is a precious and undeniable feature of the rule of law."[4]

References
  1. "Additional District Magistrate, ... Vs S. S. Shukla Etc. Etc on 28 April, 1976".
  2. Jayan, Shanmugham D; Sudheesh, Raghul (16 September 2011). "A Chief Justice of India says "I am sorry" but 30 years too late". First Post. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  3. "Interview with Justice Bhagwati (2011)". Video on www.myLaw.net. Archived from the original on 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  4. "Supreme Court rights old judicial wrongs in landmark Right to Privacy verdict, shows State its rightful place". Firstpost. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2021.

Sources
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