Book on Indian Courts by Arun Shourie to be launched on May 1

Arun Shourie will launch his latest book on May 1. The former Information and Broadcasting Minister, who received the Padma Bhushan in 1990, has also worked as a journalist and an economist..His latest book titled Anita Gets Bail: What Are Our Courts Doing? What Should We Do About Them? promises to be a riveting read..The book, which is being published by Harper Collins, examines the premise of how the Judiciary, which has historically been a sturdy pillar that has protected the common man from the excesses of the Executive and the Legislature, is beginning to develop cracks..It also discusses how the institutional arrangements that have been put in place to preserve the integrity and independence of the Judiciary are coming under siege..Shourie relies on judgments of both the higher and the subordinate courts to illustrate how, in his opinion, the Judiciary is becoming vulnerable. His research takes us from a judge who brazenly manipulates facts to let a prominent politician off, to courts that deliver hard hitting judgments without bothering to see if they are being implemented, to judges who brazenly disregard established principles..There are also references to judges who are clearly unbalanced, one whose grasp of elementary science is questionable, and another whose prose even the Supreme Court is unable to comprehend..The book also goes into many pertinent legal issues that are making the news, ranging from assignments to forum shopping, to inordinate delays in the delivery of Justice..Perhaps the icing on the cake is a personal anecdote detailing how Shourie’s wife Anita was issued a non-bailable warrant, “for evading summons which were never served, that were ostensibly issued for having built a house which she never did, on a plot that she never owned”..Shourie points out some of the things that lawyers, judges, and laypersons can do to revive the Judiciary..Image taken from here.