Saving India from Indira: The Untold Story of Emergency

The book combines personal memoir with political and constitutional history. Goyal recounts his role as a lawyer in the election case against Indira Gandhi, the Supreme Court proceedings, his interactions with political leaders during the Emergency, and events that he personally witnessed.

J. P. Goyal was a lawyer who represented Raj Narain in the important election case involving Indira Gandhi. Rama Goyal, his daughter, edited and brought his memoir to publication. Rama Goyal is an economist and editor who has worked with institutions including ICRIER, the Observer Research Foundation and Oxford University Press.

Saving India from Indira documents J. P. Goyal’s experiences during one of the most consequential periods in modern Indian political history. It follows the legal challenge to Indira Gandhi’s election, the constitutional disputes that reached the Supreme Court, and Goyal’s encounters with political leaders during the Emergency. The book provides a personal account of the legal and political events of 1975–77 from the perspective of a participant.