3 Review(s)

Abhinav Chandrachud’s The Informal Constitution, published by Oxford University Press, delves into the unwritten criteria in selecting judges for the Supreme Court of India. Summary of the Book This title discusses who the 189 judges that served on the Supreme Court from 1950 to 2009 were, how they were selected, and other such criteria. It asserts that in spite of all the established official constitutional necessities, there are three informal principles that are used for appointing the judges – age, seniority, and diversity. The author discusses the debates surrounding the Indian judicial system since the institution of the federal court came into existence during the British Raj. This is followed up by a study of the political developments that resulted in the current 'collegium system' of appointing judges to the Supreme Court of India. Based on more than two dozen interviews of the former judges of the Supreme Court of India, personally conducted by the author, The Informal Constitution brings to the forefront the unwritten criteria that are adopted in the selection process of judges to the highest court of law in India for more than six decades. About Abhinav Chandrachud Abhinav Chandrachud is pursuing his doctorate at the Stanford Law School. He graduated from the LL.M. Program at Harvard Law School, where he was a Dana Scholar. He also completed the JSM Program at Stanford Law School, where he was a Franklin Family Scholar. Chandrachud has also worked as an associate attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Los Angeles and Singapore. About Oxford University Press Oxford University Press is a renowned publishing house that develops and publishes high quality textbooks, scholarly works, and academic books for school courses, bilingual dictionaries and also digital materials for both learning and teaching. It is a division of the University of Oxford. The first book was locally published in the year 1912. Some of the books published under their banner are: India’s Ancient Past, Atkins’ Physical Chemistry, Companion to Politics in India, Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, and Common Mistakes at IELTS Advanced …and How to Avoid Them.