The supreme ideal

Mr Sengupta devotes a large part of this 300-page book on the complexity of the process of selection of judges and how the constitution benches attempted to settle the issues unsatisfactorily

INDEPENDENCE & ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE HIGHER INDIAN JUDICIARY
 

Arghya Sengupta
 

Cambridge University Press
 

Rs 795, 342 pages

The Supreme Court is undoubtedly going through one of the worst phases in its history. While the 1975 Emergency was traumatic for judiciary, it did not last long enough to destroy the institution.  The current tribulations tend to corrode slowly. The court has tried to defend its independence by three constitution bench judgments, devising a collegium to buffer against government interference in appointment and transfer of judges. But this mechanism itself is under severe attack. Conflict broke out within the camp itself when