Random House Books for Young Readers The Case that Shook India. Publisher: penguin india

"About twenty-eight years ago while the world slept, India had awakened to freedom. This fateful night, free India was sleeping in oblivion as the country was being transformed from a working democracy into a police state."This book is an example of to what low extent can people lose their minds! This is very well written on the context and events that led to the Emergency. It is an absolute thriller. You get jitters while reading through the most anticipated chapters - the ones with the verdicts and the one on happenings outside courts.Though this is a long & quite a complicated judicial issue and mostly are events in the courts but the author has written it in quite an organized manner which is simple enough for common man to understand and yet is a marvelous reference for all law people.But this is on the proceedings leading to the emergency and on the Supreme Court case until the verdict. It doesn’t cover what all happened and conspired in those 2 years of darkness. For that we surely have other books to refer to.And this is what makes it all the more critical for us to read because only a few people were present during the court proceedings in High court and it was already emergency during the Supreme Court proceedings; so nothing could be published because of press censorship! The author being present in person has first hand details on what all transpired in there.Emergency was an important phase in Indian history and very meticulously it has been removed from the education systems. As rightly said in this book, this emergency, in one way, made democracy stronger than ever in India. Only after losing fundamental rights did the people understand the meaning of freedom.Most of us were not even born then and it’s very important for us to know how it all happened and what all had happened during emergency and how it ended. Finally verdict was in the court of people - “Guilty” as charged !I have said this before and I am saying this again, Indian history didn’t start only with Alexander’s Invasion or the Mughals’ or British’s and has never stopped with Independence. It continues ...

The author- eminent Advocate Sri. Prashant Bhushan had presented the happenings of the court proceedings, demeanor of witnesses, advocates arguments, judges reactions etc. in Rajnarayans case with realistic touch in this book. His father Sri. Shanthi Bhusan had first considered it is a weak case on factual aspects. But it became a strong case for him after trial. When I read the book, I had the feel of being in the Court Halls watching the case. Sri. Shanthi Bhusan is no doubt a Legal Luminary. Sri. Prashant Bhushan is also so. I am Proud of them. The book should be in all Advocates Library.

One of the most well written and detailed book on the period of emergency. Not only provides you and inside scoop of the events that took place during and after the emergency but also shows how power can corrupt a person.

I am stupefied with the narration and chain of events that lead to emergency.When you read the following books1) Himalayan Blunder by JP Dalvi2) Darbar by Tavleen Singh3) 16 Stormy days by Tripurdaman singhOne wonders how India's destiny got shaped by few.

The arguments advanced by the author's father Mr. Shanti Bhushan are phenomenal and smashed the opposition completely. Logical and reasoned arguments advanced by Mr. Bhushan sets your brains to motion. A very appreciated piece of legal arena.