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Resources and Articles

- Sending the Right Message
By Joshua Rozenberg
...more
- Courting Controversy - The Supreme Court & PILS
By Prashant Bhushan
...more
- Law above all?
By Suchi Pande, Nikhil Dey and Aruna Roy
...more

- Clean Up the judiciary
By Shanti Bhushan - Times of India: National : 12th October 2007
In 1993, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court laid down a new system for making appointments of judges to the high courts and Supreme Court. This system gave enormous powers to a collegium of senior judges of the Supreme Court to select and make recommendations to the government for these appointments. Their recommendations were also directed to be binding on the government and president. ...more

- Background Paper on "Securing Judicial Accountability"
By Prashant Bhushan - Background paper to the seminar on "Securing Judicial Accountability" New Delhi : 9th October 2007
The judiciary in the country today has come to enjoy enormous powers. It is not only the arbiter of disputes between citizens, between citizens and the State, between States and the Union, it also in purported exercise of powers to enforce fundamental rights, directs the governments to close down industries, commercial establishments, demolish jhuggis, remove hawkers and rickshaw pullers from the streets, prohibits strikes and bandhs etc. In short, it has come to be the most powerful institution of the State. ...more

- Majesty of the Judiciary
By V.R. Krishna Iyer - Asian Age: New Delhi : 17th February 2007
The judiciary is the most sublime instrumentality in the country and I have served it for nearly a decade during the best part of my life. This article, written out of reverence for the judicature, has a benign intent meant to arrest its corruption and decline now creeping into its vitals. ...more

- Has The Philosophy Of The Supreme Court On Public Interest Litigation Changed In The Era Of Liberalisation?
By Prashant Bhushan, Advocate
The foundations of public interest litigation were laid in the late 70s with cases like the Ratlam Municipalities case. The scope and breadth of public interest litigation were expanded in the Eighties from the initial environmental concerns, to concerns like bonded labour, child labour, the rights of detenues, inmates of various asylums, the rights of the poor to education, to shelter and other essential amenities which would enable them to lead a life of dignity. ...more


- Contempt of court: need for a second look
 By Markandey Katju - The Hindu, Monday, January 22, 2007
In a democracy the people should have the right to criticise judges. The purpose of the contempt power should not be to uphold the majesty and dignity of the court but only to enable it to function. ...more

- Comments of the Committee on Judicial Accountability on the Judges Enquiry Bill, 2006.
by Committee on Judicial Accountability. ...more

- Draft bill on National Judicial Commission...more


- Judicial Accountability or Illusion - the National Judicial Council Bill
by Prashant Bhushan, Advocate
The recent decision of the government to bring a bill to amend the Judges Inquiry Act and provide for the constitution of a National Judicial Council to inquire into complaints against errant judges is being perceived as a long awaited initiative to introduce some accountability for judges of the higher judiciary....more

- Access to Justice: Judiciary watch
by Videh Upadhyay, Advocate, Supreme Court
The functioning of a democracy is dependent on the autonomy and efficacy of the three systems of the state, namely, parliament, executive and the judiciary. India in the last two decades has seen rapid erosion of the functioning of the parliament and the executive. In this scenario of failure of the state in ensuring its constitutional obligation and rights to the citizens and initiating social-economic transformation, the judiciary has often played a significant role in upholding the rule of law and thereby protecting the fundamentals of democracy in the country. ...more
 
- Democracy and Justice
by Dunu Roy, Director, Hazards Centre
Is “democracy” a “good thing”? As the general elections approach, there is a concerted push to answer ‘yes’. Whereby, it is conveniently forgotten that for civil liberties to become a rallying cry, it was also necessary for the Emergency to be imposed! And, as one generation gives way before the next, another Emergency slowly creeps up onto an unwary nation. In many ways, the recent drive to clear the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi of slums and to convert the area into a national tourism-cum-cultural complex raises significant questions about the nature of Indian democracy. ...more

- Questions without Answers
by Sukumar Muralidhar & V. Venkatesan, Frontline, Vol 18, Issue 09
Former Law Minister and Senior Advocate Shanti Bhushan releases his correspondence with the Judges of the Supreme Court, the President and the Prime Minister seeking an inquiry into certain allegations relating to Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand. …more


- On Corruption In Judiciary And Judicial Accountability
by Hardev Singh, Peoples Democracy
A SPATE of scams involving members of higher judiciary in bribery, corruption, sex, favoritism and abuse of power has come as a great shock to the people. The arrest of Shamit Mukherjee, a Delhi High Court judge, just before being made permanent, magnified the shock beyond description so as to hasten the BJP-led government to announce the formation of a National Judicial Commission for appointments to the higher echelons of judiciary. …more

- Accountability of Supreme Court: Arundhati Roy Case
By S.P.Sathe (EPW April 13, 2002)
Can a citizen of India not criticise the Supreme Court’s decisions? Can she not criticise the procedures and management of the court? Is the court not supposed to be accountable? How will its accountability be enforced if it were made absolutely immune from public criticism?...more

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