Towards an Alternative Democracy: A New Role for the Indian Judiciary.

In an increasingly connected world national identities are gradually merging given aspirations of a more globally unified legal and political order. In such a scenario 3rd world countries provide an interesting arena for observing this phenomenon because of their certain uniquely unvonventional democratic features. Apart from having a common colonial legacy, India shares with the 3rd world, communal politics resulting in segregated constituencies, huge illiterate populations, irresponsive legislatures, and an aspiration to become the "west". These unique features, through synthesis with the model of liberal democracy has evolved into a sui generis system of governance. This paper examines how democratic constitutional theory is implicated in the dynamic processes of (un)making, (re)defining, asserting and haggling that produce a developing nation's identitity. By analyzing classical cases in Indian constitutional law that have shaped India's national consciousness for over 50 years, the author will demonstrate how judiciary has been instrumental in articulating the unique and multi-cultural character of its polity and the difficulties that India faces in becoming a "democracy". The author will pay particular attention to the conflicts that have arisen in defining the institutional identities within this superimposed reality of "democracy", especially between parliament and the judiciary. The paper will eventually demonstrate the potential for the Indian judiciary to assume a pro-active role along with the legislature in directing the policy process, thus shaping legal and political order of state's democracy. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]