Appointments, Accountability and Independence: The Indian Supreme Court at a Crossroads

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Appointments, Accountability and Independence: The Indian Supreme Court at a Crossroads

Anashri Pillay

The Supreme Court of India (SCI), arguably the most powerful Court in the world, occupies an unusually prominent position within discussions of Indian constitutionalism. Recent accounts of the SCI are striking for the contradictions they highlight. The narrative of the SCI as a stalwart champion of pro-poor causes is hard to reconcile with instances of extreme judicial deference in the face of e.g. governmental neglect of land rights and worker protection.

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'Yes, Master of Roster'

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'Yes, Master of Roster'

Krithika Ashok

The Supreme Court of India (“Court”) has, for much of its life, seen low rates of dissent. While the rate of non-unanimity, somewhat respectably, hovered at around 8.4 per cent in its early years, it has languished at less than 1 per cent in more recent times. This has naturally evoked curiosity given that it is the court of last resort in India, tasked with deciding presumably the most contentious or controversial legal issues here.

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Potential for Chaos in India's Polyvocal Supreme Court

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Potential for Chaos in India's Polyvocal Supreme Court

Gautam Bhatia

The Indian Supreme Court has long been recognised for judicial creativity. The development of its public interest litigation docket has been characterised by a disavowal of legal forms such as rules of standing and strict evidentiary standards, in favour of a more substantive approach to adjudication, which focuses on just outcomes in an unequal society. While this has allowed the Court to be flexible on questions involving both the scope of constitutional rights, and on the nature of remedies that it can fashion to address questions of substantive injustice, it has – inevitably – had an impact on the stability and consistency of legal doctrine.

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A Moment of Self-Reckoning for the Supreme Court of India? Reflections on the Judges' Press Conference

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A Moment of Self-Reckoning for the Supreme Court of India? Reflections on the Judges' Press Conference

Gaurav Mukherjee

On 12 January 2018, the four most senior judges of the Supreme Court of India (Supreme Court) after the Chief Justice of India (Chief Justice), held an unprecedented press conference in New Delhi. Here, they presented a letter listing a set of grievances regarding the conduct of the Chief Justice to members of the media. The four judges went to great lengths to establish that they had sought to resolve the matter internally by first presenting the grievances to the Chief Justice.

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Introduction: The World's Most Powerful Court on the Brink?

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Introduction: The World's Most Powerful Court on the Brink?

Tarunabh Khaitan

The Indian Supreme Court stands at a crossroads. As the contributions to this timely blog symposium indicate, at a time when the country is facing serious prospects of democratic deconsolidation, its main constitutional watchdog faces an unprecedented existential crisis. The catalyst for the crisis is the pressure the Modi government has apparently been exerting on the judiciary ever since it took office in 2014.

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Editors' Introduction: Crisis at the Supreme Court of India?

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Editors' Introduction: Crisis at the Supreme Court of India?

Erika Arban & Tom Gerald Daly

The blog post by Professor Tarunabh Khaitan, posted today, is the introduction to this Blog Symposium titled ‘Crisis at the Supreme Court of India?’. Contributions from leading scholars include Professor Khaitan’s framing piece, drawing on his current research project concerning democratic decay in India, and four key contributions, as follows (and in order of the date they were written):

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