Lions on the Throne: The Supreme Court of India and Judicial Independence
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24 Sep
2019
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Community Engagement
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Various Scholars
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The Supreme Court of India is one of the most powerful constitutional courts in the world. Yet, in its methods of appointment and accountability, its functioning is opaque and insulated. Such opacity and insulation is justified by the ostensible need for judicial independence. This talk, based on my book will argue why the present understanding of judicial independence is flawed and requires a rethink. Using Indian constitutional history and Anglo-American political thought, I posit that judges are most respected when they are lions under the throne and not on it. They must be both independent and accountable, boldly speaking truth to power, while in turn being checked and balanced by government, Parliament and the citizenry.
Duration -
September 24, 2019
Timing: 6:30 - 8:30
Registrations Closed
Arghya Sengupta
Arghya Sengupta was born in Kolkata in 1984. He was educated at St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, Kolkata, the National Law School of India University Bengaluru and the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar and Lecturer in Law. He is currently the Research Director of the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy which he founded in 2013. He is the author of two acclaimed books Independence and Accountability of the Indian Higher Judiciary which he released in Mumbai in Jnanapravaha and HamīñAst? A Biography of Article 370(co-authored). He is a columnist at The Times of India and The Telegraph.
B. N. Srikrishna
B. N. Srikrishna is an Indian jurist and a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. From 1993–98, when he was a sitting judge of the Bombay High Court, he headed the "Srikrishna Commission" that investigated causes for the Bombay riots of 1992–93. He most recently served as the chairperson of a committee of experts to draft a data protection law for India and also the chairperson of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission.
Darius J. Khambata
Darius J. Khambata, Senior Counsel has held two distinguished public law offices: of Advocate General for Maharashtra and of Additional Solicitor General of India. He practises before the Supreme Court of India, the Bombay High Court and other High Courts and Tribunals across India and has appeared in several important constitutional, commercial, securities and administrative law matters as well as domestic and international commercial arbitrations.