The Indian Express newspaper as on 19 December, forty years ago
Attorney General Niren De told the Supreme Court that the ambit of the presidential order issued under Article 359 of the Constitution on June 27, 1975 was very wide, and even if there had been no sanction of law, the order was enough to cover any executive act. De was arguing before the Constitution bench for the fourth day on a batch of appeals from the judgments of the various high courts, holding that the courts had jurisdiction to adjudicate on the detention orders made during the Emergency.
Tracing the origins of the habeas corpus petitions, De said that this was the method available to the court to release a person who had been unjustly detained. It was the power of the court to remedy evil when a petitioner came before it. To give relief in a habeas corpus petition, two things were required: First there must be detention; second, the detention must be unlawful. The object was to protect the liberty of the citizen. Since the president by his June 27 order had suspended the citizen’s right to move the court, no remedy was available to the latter through a court of law.
Peron Calls For Polls
President Isabel Peron called general elections in Argentina for October 17, 1976, in an apparent effort to defuse political tensions and head off a possible military coup. The action came as the violence that has plagued her regime claimed three more lives. The deaths raised to 723 the number of casualties in political violence for the year.
Killers Pardoned
The army officers responsible for the murder of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the members of his family had received a presidential “pardon” from Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed. They were pardoned on September 26, six weeks after the assassination, through an ordinance that placed them above trial by any court. The officers fled to Libya, where they sought political asylum.
Source: New feed
