Judge who set aside Indira Gandhi's election dies

Justice JL Sinha, who set off a chain of events leading to imposition of the Emergency in 1975, died after prolonged illness.

Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha, whose decision as Allahabad High Court judge setting aside the election of Indira Gandhi, had set off a chain of events leading to imposition of the Emergency in 1975, died here on Thursday after prolonged illness.

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Sinha, 88, is survived by wife and three sons, family sources said.

In a landmark judgement on February 12, 1975, Justice Sinha declared the election of Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, to the Lok Sabha as void and Emergency was imposed in the country on June 27 the same year.

Born in Agra in 1920, Justice Sinha obtained his LLB degree from Agra University and started his career as a lawyer in Bareilly in 1943.

He was elected to Uttar Pradesh Higher Judicial Service in 1956. In 1970, he was elevated to the Allahabad High Court.

Justice Sinha retired as a High Court judge in 1982. He was also vice-president of All India Bharati Vikas Parishad of which Justice H R Khanna of the Supreme Court was the President.