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Court on Trial
A Data-Driven Account of the Supreme Court of India
Speakers
The Indian Supreme Court was established nearly seventy-five years ago as a core part of India’s constitutional project. Does the Court live up to the ideals of justice imagined by the framers of the Indian Constitution?
Critics of the Supreme Court point out that it takes too long to adjudicate cases, a select group of senior advocates exercise disproportionate influence on the outcome of cases, the Chief Justice of India strategically assigns cases with an eye to outcome, and the self-appointments process-known as the collegium-is just another ‘old boys’ network’.
Building on nearly a decade of original empirical research, this book examines these and other controversies plaguing the Supreme Court today. The authors provide an overview of the Supreme Court and its processes which are often shrouded in mystery, and present data-driven suggestions for improving the effectiveness and integrity of the Court.
The panel will discuss the issues raised in the book. A Q&A with the audience will follow.
In collaboration with:
Speakers
Aparna Chandra
Aparna Chandra is an Associate Professor of Law at National Law School, Bengaluru, where she teaches and researches on constitutional law, human rights, gender and the law and judicial process reform. She has previously worked at the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, and the National Law University, Delhi where she was the founder Director of the Centre for Constitutional Law, Policy, and Governance.
Aditya Sondhi
Aditya Sondhi, PhD is a Senior Advocate practising before the Supreme Court of India and appears in cases involving constitutional, criminal and commercial law. He has served as Additional Advocate General for Karnataka from 2016 to 2018. He graduated from the National Law School of India University and holds a PhD from Mysore University for his thesis on civil-military relations in India and Pakistan, which is soon to be published. He has taught constitutional law, arbitration and professional ethics and has lectured widely across India, as also abroad.
Harish Narasappa
Dr. Harish Narasappa is a Senior Advocate practising before various courts and tribunals in India. He is the co-founder of Daksh, a civil society organisation that promotes accountability and better governance in India. He is also one of the founders of Samvad Partners, a leading pan-India law firm. Harish is the author of Rule of Law in India- A Quest for Reason in which he explored the gap between the promise and reality of the law in India.
Samar Halarnkar
Samar Halarnkar is the founding editor of Article 14 (www.article-14.com), a website focused on issues related to the rule of law in India, and a columnist for Scroll.in. He is also co-founder of the India Love Project (@indialoveproject), an Instagram handle that curates stories of love beyond the boundaries of caste, faith, gender and ethnicity. His work has appeared in a variety of international and national publications, including the New York Times, The Globe and Mail (Canada), and Arab News. A journalist for 31 years and former Managing Editor of the Hindustan Times, Halarnkar was also an editor at The Indian Express and India Today. He has been a visiting lecturer at the University of California-Berkeley and a fellow at the Nieman Foundation, Harvard. He has won national awards on investigative and technology reporting and is the author of two books.
