His initiative in introducing the Assam Agricultural Income Tax Bill, the first of its kind in India, in 1939, that levied taxes on tea garden lands … - Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

How does the press manage to come out with the controversial bits in the cabinet meeting?

As President, he put signature to the order on promulgation of Emergence on 25 June 1975 – the most notable decision of the presidential term. This move was widely criticized by the opposition leaders who considered it a servile act, driven more by considerations of being seen as loyal to the Nehru-Gandhi family, rather than of genuine concern for the safety of the government.

The son of an army doctor from Assam, he was educated in India and studied history at the University of Cambridge, graduating in 1927. After returning to India, he was elected to the Assam legislature (1935). As Assam’s minister of finance and revenue in 1938, he was responsible for some radical taxation measures. On the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Indian National Congress party had a confrontation with British power, and he was jailed for a year. Soon after release he was again imprisoned for another three and a half years, being released in April 1945. In 1946 he was appointed advocate general of Assam and held the post for six years.