Saving India from Indira Untold Story of the Emergency Memoirs of

J.P. Goyal is a very intrinsic account of events that occurred around the
period of emergency. This book is on a very similar line to other books
which talk about emergencies but what makes this book different from
other books on the same subject is that it is in the form of a memoir of
the writer. The book is a collection of unpublished papers of the eminent
lawyer Shri J.P. Goyal. J.P Goyal was one of the lawyers of Raj Narayan
in his case against Mrs. Indira Gandhi for the illicit and illegal practices
to win the general elections on the Rae Bareli seat. Shri Goyal was a
very proficient lawyer to uphold the independent and democratic
structure of the country but his contribution in saving the democracy
from Mrs. Indira Gandhi is very much ignored in the book The case that
shook India written by Mr. Prashant Bhushan who is also an eminent
jurist, Mr. Bhushan completely ignored the contribution of Shri. Goyal
in the case of Raj Narayan vs Indira Gandhi (1975 AIR 865), The
Famous Election Case, Bhushan tried to glorify his father, Mr. Shanti
Bhushan, who was the lawyer for Raj Naryan in his case.

This ignorance of his contribution and complete disregard of his work,

and also, a suggestion from his daughter, Mrs. Rama Goyal, J.P. Goyal
tried to account for the untold stories of the emergency, although he did
not publish these papers because he wanted to remain away from the
limelight, alike, Mr. Bhushan. Mr. Goyal was not just a witness to the
historical period of emergency moreover he was an active participant in
the making of it. J.P. accounts in his book how Since independence, our
country, India has deviated from democratic structure only once and that
for twenty-one months, due to proclamation of emergency by Mrs.
Indira Gandhi for his political benefits and her hunger for power at the
center. This book, Saving India from Indira describes the events that
lead India up to, and during the darkest era of our democratic India.
Goyal accounts for the events around the period of imposition of so-
called and so claimed National emergency by then Prime Minister Mr.
Indira Gandhi, Goyal recounts the development and modifications in this
case in the Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court of India,
although this no-holds-barred account of a crucial insider describes the
twists and turns in the case. Goyal being the prominent lawyer in the
case of Raj Narayan has most of the important information regarding the
various developments and inside functioning of the government to
suppress the dissent at that very instant of time, this book gives a blow-
by-blow account of the battle that Goyal, along with his battery of
lawyers, waged in the Supreme Court to defend the Constitution of India
against the amendments that could alter its basic structure. This gripping
narrative includes an account of Goyal’s meetings with political leaders
in jail, including Jayaprakash Narayan and Raj Narain, and reveals many
hitherto unknown facts that Goyal was privy to. Saving India from
Indira is a sharp memoir of one of those few who fought against the
misdeeds of the dark era and recorded events for posterity.

Although, The book is divided into eleven chapters, what was most
important and catchy for me was the last chapter, Chapter 11, ‘The
people Versus Indira Gandhi: Democracy Restored’, this chapter deals
with the event that happened due to the efforts of people like J.P. Goyal
the people of India developed the faith in the Indian Democracy and
showed that this country can not function under a dictatorship and this
gets its backing from the rallies of that time when Sanjay Gandhi has to
hire Five Lakh people for his rally and similarly when Indira Gandhi
addressed a rally in her constituency, Rae Bareli, where only 55 people
attended it and in that also mostly where her security personnel and
administrative staff, and who Indira had tears seeing this. This chapter
clearly describes how the people of India helped in withdrawing from
the national emergency in 1975 by voting the Janta party to power.
Therefore, this book is a true account of tragic events of the emergency
period, it is a completely unbiased and unaltered version of those events.