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About this talk

The Supreme Court of India — and the judiciary more broadly — has long occupied a central place in the country's political life. That remains as true today as ever before. Aadhar, demonetisation, the abrogation of Article 370, Special Intensive Revision exercises, and other major constitutional controversies have once again placed courts at the centre of public debate. Dr Sondhi's talk will use the jurisprudential idea of the "political question" as an entry point into the broader issues concerning the place of law and courts in contemporary India, their relationship with democratic politics, and the ways in which judicial authority is exercised and understood. The political question doctrine raises a concern whether certain disputes are ultimately political in character and therefore not always appropriate for judicial determination. The talk will also examine debates around the alleged politicisation of the bar and the bench, asking how constitutional adjudication itself may be shaped by the wider political currents of its time.

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