The Court and the Constitution of India: Summits and Shallows by O.Chinnappa Reddy, OUP, 2008, Rs.795, pp.337.

At last, a truly insider’s account of the Supreme Court? I have not yet read the book,(having got it only last week) but that is no reason why I should not share parts of the foreword to this book by Upendra Baxi.

He writes: “What is new here, I suggest fully, is the appeal that suggests that even those claiming the arrogance of expert knowledges about Indian constitutionalism may still find here plentiful moments for recovering their residual constitutional humility(italics, Prof. Baxi’s)….This is a contemplative work, inviting judges and lawpersons to stand back from the pulls and pressures of their everyday work, and further inviting them to the tasks of understanding the different histories of constitutional interpretation. This book may well be subtitled: What You Always Wanted to Know about the Supreme Court of India, but Were Afraid to Ask!.”