“Justice Krishnaswami Chandru is a phenomenon.”– Gopalkrishna Gandhi
The higher judiciary in India has not undergone any systematic evaluation of its performance or institutional standards. It is insulated from public gaze and public audit. While there is a separation of powers among the three organs of the state (the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary), there is no gainsaying that the judiciary, by virtue of its independence, has no requirement of public audit of its work and conduct.
It is imperative today, perhaps more than ever before, to examine whether judges are accountable to the polity of the nation and whether their work upholds constitutional standards.
Judicial appointments to the higher courts have, over time, been effectively appropriated by a judicial coup via the collegium system. The increasing saffronisation of the higher judiciary poses a serious challenge to its impartiality and constitutional ethos. The elevation of certain judges and their public utterances have raised concerns about threats to the secular and plural foundations of the Indian society.
Justice K. Chandru offers us a glimpse behind the otherwise closed doors of the judiciary, an institution surrounded in layers of opacity. This book makes a powerful, reasoned, insightful, and sober case for institutional reform of the higher judiciary in India.