India's legal system, can it be saved ? By Fali S Nariman

India's Legal system ,can it be saved? by Fali s Nariman was put up by @penguinindia for a reading on Republic Day.

In this book, the author has carefully documented the path of transformation of law from the pre British era to post and the independent India. How in the courts of petty chieftains and big zamindars, the legal profession was born.

Though there are laws. It could be challenged by the justices to declare it as void. He has explained this very nicely using the example of section 303. Also judges don't make new laws, they discover the correct principle behind it with time. Because a lot of times the constitutional mandates of different articles contain words whose meanings are not explicitly defined.

The later part of the book talks about our deeply flawed criminal justice system. And sadly nothing is changed even as we speak about it. Like the right to remain silent becomes a privilege in certain cases. How the search for proof and search for truth has to be the same but it never is.

My favourite lines from the book : " Our legal system which we have adopted and adapted in this country, does work : if you only know to make it work. Decide as you must- according to law- but never forget that law without justice is like an egg without its yolk, and much of its salt".

Means the moral dimension to every decision making is important. Everything relies on the judge's instinct to get closer to a conclusion that fits the justice of the case.

This book was a tough read for me. Mainly because of the language used which felt like it is taken from a textbook. But the good thing is the legal jargons are explained using an example. So I understood things in retrospection. There are also terms used that were completely foreign to me and I had to Google it. So the book in parts was both complex and compelling. Complex because some parts are written in such a way that caters to readers from the legal profession. Compelling because the explanation using cases were interesting and understandable. A book that requires patience , time, Google and rapt attention.

Happy Republic Day to all Indian folks out there!🇮🇳