Aparna Chandra

Court on Trial is a data-driven set of reform suggestions relating to the Supreme Court of India. The authors built their own data set, as well as drawing from existing data about the court, to suggest a set of five reforms. As currently acknowledged, the Supreme Court of India does not function well, has far too many cases pending, and faces institutional challenges, such as a lack of transparency in appointment processes, an overwhelmingly caste-privileged, male composition drawing from religious majorities, and frequent doctrinal and legal incoherence in its work. This book tackles five specific concerns: delays occasioned chiefly by permissive admission of 'special leave petitions'; the overstated influence of a small group of senior advocates, the excessive power concentrated in the hands of the Chief Justice, the composition of the higher judiciary, and tenure limits. Their reforms focus around strategies the court can adopt to tackle these issues (such as streamlining admissions, actively facilitating access for junior lawyers, elevating more women judges and so on). While these conclusions are neither new, nor radical, they are backed by the authors' data, and so make a stronger case for arguments that have already been presented before. Whether any court, or judge, in India, is willing to take up the challenge of these questions remains, and to be fair, is a question outside the remit of this book. Worth reading.… (mehr)