Handcuffs and chains fettered the tall, bespectacled prisoner as he was led into the packed New Delhi courtroom. He was George Fernandes, 46, chairman of the Socialist Party of India and former president of the All-India Rail-waymen's Federation, and he was now facing India's first prosecution for conspiracy against the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Behind Fernandes came 21 co-defendants—industrialists, journalists, politicians and others—also handcuffed and chained. With characteristic fervor, Fernandes rattled his shackles and declared that he was guilty of no crime. "We and the chains we bear before...
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