Legal and Economic Reforms in India: an Economist’s Perspective

The Supreme Court of India has used its constitutionally mandated task of interpreting the enforceable fundamental rights enumerated in Part III of the constitution to extend its own powers. This extension in my view poses a dangerous threat to the Constitutional democracy of India. I argue below that the situation not only impacts the spillover effects beyond each case, but the learned justices seem to be incapable of conceptualizing possible spillovers, let alone incorporating them in their decisions. They also seem to be innocent of any understanding of the intersections of the intellectual disciplines of law and economics. I think that legal and economic reforms in India are top priorities. I have organized my discussion in four related categories: Laws and Administrative Regulations, Judicial Restraint versus Activism, Economic and Fiscal Federalism in the Constitution, and Rule of Law and Judicial Reform