In 1975 democracy broke down in India giving way to a 19-month spell of authoritarianism. A pliant president invoked the constitutional provision to declare a state of emergency at the instance of the prime minister. More than 100,000 political opponents, independent journalists, and dissenters were imprisoned. Fundamental rights were suspended, and courts could not entertain writs of habeas corpus. This chapter assesses different explanations for the breakdown in India’s democracy, ranging from personal and proximate triggers to structural and deep historical factors. It shows that the breakdown of India’s democracy had historical roots in colonial jurisprudence that formed the basis of the postcolonial republic. Today, India’s electoral autocracy arguably poses a graver challenge to the world’s largest democracy than the one that was overcome in 1977. A postcolonial constitution retaining the myriad states of exception of the colonial era does not afford sufficient protection against democratically elected authoritarian rulers.