His reputation for independence and the fact that he was the only senior bureaucrat of the time visibly seen to be unconnected with the excesses of the Emergency meant that when the Janata government of 1977 took office, he was their choice for Cabinet Secretary. In that position, he helped draft the Constitutional Amendments that removed the alterations made by Mrs. Gandhi to the Constitution during the Emergency that impacted on Fundamental Rights. After Morarji Desai was removed from office, he saw an increase in the responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary's post as Charan Singh found himself unable or unwilling to chair Cabinet meetings.