Hindi television serial Buniyaad has been started. The drama serial was one of the first dailysoaps in India. It was directed by Ramesh Sippy and Jyoti. The series was written by Kamal Saigal and dealt with the Partition of India in 1947 and its aftermath.

Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was commenced on December 24. The landmark law was made to protect the interests of consumers in India. It made provision for the establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumers' disputes.

Neerja Bhanot, a purser for the airline Pan American World Airways, based in Mumbai had lost her life trying to save passengers on Pan Am Flight 73. The flight was hijacked by terrorists during a stopover in Karachi, Pakistan, on 5 September 1986. Posthumously, she became the youngest recipient of India's highest peacetime award for bravery, the Ashok Chakra Award.

Dreaded criminal Charles Sobhraj escaped from Delhi's Tihar Jail by drugging his guards and walking out of the jail complex unnoticed.
Charles Sobhraj known as the Bikini Killer, is a French serial killer of Vietnamese and Indian origin. He preyed on Western tourists throughout Southeast Asia during the 1970s. 

Rajiv Gandhi government has diluted the Supreme Court judgment on Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum, commonly referred to as the Shah Bano case. The supreme court judgment favoring maintenance given to an aggrieved divorced Muslim woman was overruled by the then Congress government.