ROUGH DRAFT

OF
“LAW AND LITERATURE”

SUBMITTED TO: Dr. Pratyush Kaushik SUBMITTED BY:

(Faculty of Law and Literature) Shreya Sinha
Roll No. 1648
Semester: 2nd
Session: 2016-2021
TOPIC
“THE QUALITY OF JUSTICE BY AP SHAH”

INTRODUCTION
About AP Shah:
Justice (Retd.) Ajit Prakash Shah(born 13 February 1948 at Solapur) is the Chairman of the
20th Law Commission of India. He was the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court from May
2008 till his retirement in February 2010. Justice Shah is known for his bold judgments.
Justice Shah did his graduation from Solapur and attended Government Law College,
Mumbai for his law degree. After a short span of practice at the Solapur District Court, he
shifted to the Bombay High Court in 1977 and joined the chambers of the then-leading
Advocate Shri S.C. Pratap. He gained experience in civil, constitutional, service and labour
matters.
Justice Shah was appointed Additional Judge of Bombay High Court on 18 December 1992
and became a permanent Judge of Bombay High Court on 8 April 1994. He assumed charge
as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court on 12 November 2005 and was transferred as the
Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on 7 May 2008. Since June 2011, Justice Shah has been the
Chairperson of Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC), the self-regulatory body
for non-news general entertainment channels (GECs) set up by the Indian Broadcasting
Foundation (IBF).
The Quality of Justice:
This is one of the remarkable works of former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. In this text
Justice Shah has talked about the deteriorating condition of the Indian Judicial System. He
has compared the scenario of Indian Judicial System to the Judicial System of other countries
like France. There is a big difference in the judicial systems of both the countries. In India
there is a lack of judges and the judges of subsidiary courts are promoted to the post of the
judge of higher courts, the scenario is completely different in France and other foreign
countries. In other countries the people study law to contribute to the judiciary of their own
country. Justice Shah has shown his interest in the idea of recruiting judges through the All
India Judicial Services. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also revisited the idea of recruiting
judges through All India Judicial Services in a speech commemorating 50 years of the Delhi
High Court. Justice Shah supported this idea to attract talent.
Justice Shah also discussed that the vacancies in the courts can only be filled if the judiciary
is able to attract talents. It is only because of the failure of Indian Judiciary to attract talent
that there are so many vacancies and the judges need to be promoted even if they are not
eligible enough. This can have far-reaching impact on the quality of justice, and on people’s
access to justice as well. For decades, the judiciary has been asked to do something about
judicial recruitments, but always stops short of taking an initiative in the formation of an
AIJS. The prime minister and the chief justice of India have raised red flags about the
problems that plague the courts. There is no time better than now to start doing something
about these problems.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims and objectives of this project are:
1. To study and analyse “The Quality of Justice by Justice AP Shah.”
2. To comment on the text.

TENTATIVE CHAPTERIZATION
1. Introduction
2. Justice AP Shah
3. About the book The Quality of Justice
4. Analysis
5. Opinions and Suggestions
6. Conclusion
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
For this study, primary research method was utilised. Various articles, e-articles, reports and
books from library were used extensively in framing all the data and figures in appropriate
form, essential for this study.
The method used in writing this research is primarily analytical.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. The Quality of Justice by Justice AP Shah.

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajit_Prakash_Shah
3. http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/judges-appointment-indian-
judiciary-all-india-judicial-service-3736041/
4. http://www.livelaw.in/justice-a-p-shah-appointed-as-the-ethics-officer-ombudsman-
at-bcci/