Since 2014, multiple experts have identified that Indian democracy is backsliding. Examples include the clampdown on Jammu and Kashmir, arrest of journalists and activists as well as the attack on the Opposition using draconian instruments such as the Enforcement Directorate.
The one obvious institution that could have checked this slide is the judiciary. However, in spite of often being called the most powerful judiciary in the world, India’s courts have done no such thing.
On episode #7 of Scroll Ideas, we are joined by legal scholar Anuj Bhuwania who has studied the post-independence history of India’s higher judiciary. He argues that it was, in many ways, naive to expect the judiciary to act as a check on the executive given their post-Emergency history as a populist organ.
Reading
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1
Why a Christian pastor was denied a burial in his own village by India’s Supreme Court
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2
Maharashtra government withdraws funding for eggs, sweet dishes in mid-day meals
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3
S Hussain Zaidi’s new book on Dawood Ibrahim introduces readers to his close aide Salim ‘Kutta’
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4
Despair and horror: 10 photos that tell the story of the stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela
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5
Amazon MX Player announces new Hindi original shows, returning seasons
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6
Tarun Bhartiya (1970-2025): The bird that flew the coop
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7
A new book brings stories of Drukpa Kunley (1455-1529), or the beloved ‘divine madman’ of Bhutan
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8
Why the push by India’s tiger conservation body to relocate forest-dwellers is contentious
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9
Fiction: A mysterious man kindles Chintamoni’s dormant desires, bringing her love and money
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10
Charlie Hebdo: Rethinking the French satire magazine’s legacy as a symbol of free speech