07-17-2006, 09:02 PM
came in mail:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->
July 17, 2006
RESOURCE: Censored Book on Public Interest Litigation in India Now Online
------
Ed. note: Dr. Hans Dembowski wrote an important study of public interest litigation in India, concentrating on the Calcutta region, published by Oxford University Press in 2001. The ISBN is 0195653092. However, for reasons not yet clearly established, the Calcutta High Court issued an order of contempt of court for the publisher and the author. The matter remains pending now, five years later, and the hard copy book has been withdrawn by the publisher.Â
The document has now been put on the web and is available as Dr. Dembowski notes below. I have also added, at the end of the post, a table of contents for the document. The book was published in English; the site is bi-lingual, German and English.      <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
A controversial study on judicial activism and civil society in India is finally available again â accessible at the following URL:
http://www.asienhaus.de/taking-state-to-court
Originally, Oxford University Press published Hans Dembowski's book _Taking the State to Court â Public Interest Litigation and the Public Sphere_ in early 2001. However, OUP discontinued international distribution that year, because the Calcutta High Court started contempt-of-court proceedings against the author and the publisher. The case has been kept pending since. No judgement was passed. For five years, academic debate has thus been blocked. The sociological study deals with several politically relevant matters, including urban planning, governance, the environment and, of course, the role of the judiciary. The entire book is available online in a pdf-version. Asienhaus is a German NGO, the pdf-files are free.
Thanks - and best wishes,
Hans
Dr. Hans Dembowski
xxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxx
Contents / Acknowledgements / Glossary
Chapter 1: Introductive Overview (page 1)
Chapter 2: Democracy, Development and Functional Differentiation (page 8)
2.1 Why Democratic Governance Depends on the 'Public Sphere'
2.2 Historical Connotations of 'Civil Society'
2.3 Neoliberal 'Good Governance' and Leftist 'Democratization'
2.4 Governance Problems after Colonial Rule
2.5 Governance in India
Chapter 3: The Changing Role of the Indian Judiciary (page 48)
3.1 Problematic Rule of Law in a Historical Perspective
3.2 The Courts and the Political System
3.3 Public Interest Litigation
Chapter 4: Environment and Politics in India (page 63)
4.1 The Emergence of Environmental Policy
4.2 Implementation Deficits
4.3 Opposition to Government Deficiencies
4.4 The Situation of the Calcutta Agglomeration
Chapter 5: The Conflict over the East Calcutta Wetlands (page 83)
5.1 Land Use in East Calcutta and Patterns of Urban Sprawl
5.2 The Pre-Litigation Pro-Wetlands Campaign
5.3 PUBLIC v The State of West Bengal
5.4 M.C. Mehta v The Union of India
5.5 PUBLIC's Pending Contempt Accusations
5.6 Surojit Srimani v the State of West Bengal
5.7 Conservation Initiatives of the State Government
5.8 The Wetlands Six Years after the First Judgement
Chapter 6:The Howrah Matter (page 142)
6.1 The Civic Situation in the Howrah Corporation
6.2 The Howrah Ganatantrik Nagarik Samiti
6.3 Moving the Judiciary
6.4 Individual Issues
6.5 An assessment: The Court's Role in Changing the Polity
Chapter 7: Enthnographic Observations: An Overarching Lack of Trust (page 181)
7.1 The Approach of 'Thick Description'
7.2 The Judiciary
7.3 The Environmentalist Network
Chapter 8: Conclusion: Rudimentary Public Sphere and an Unresponsive State (page 206)
Annexures and References (page 220)
Timetable of events concerning the East Calcutta wetlands /
Timetable of events concerning the Howrah Matter /
Rough Sketch of wetlands map /
References: Books, Journals and Reports /
References: Newspapers, websites, legal documents
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->
July 17, 2006
RESOURCE: Censored Book on Public Interest Litigation in India Now Online
------
Ed. note: Dr. Hans Dembowski wrote an important study of public interest litigation in India, concentrating on the Calcutta region, published by Oxford University Press in 2001. The ISBN is 0195653092. However, for reasons not yet clearly established, the Calcutta High Court issued an order of contempt of court for the publisher and the author. The matter remains pending now, five years later, and the hard copy book has been withdrawn by the publisher.Â
The document has now been put on the web and is available as Dr. Dembowski notes below. I have also added, at the end of the post, a table of contents for the document. The book was published in English; the site is bi-lingual, German and English.      <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
A controversial study on judicial activism and civil society in India is finally available again â accessible at the following URL:
http://www.asienhaus.de/taking-state-to-court
Originally, Oxford University Press published Hans Dembowski's book _Taking the State to Court â Public Interest Litigation and the Public Sphere_ in early 2001. However, OUP discontinued international distribution that year, because the Calcutta High Court started contempt-of-court proceedings against the author and the publisher. The case has been kept pending since. No judgement was passed. For five years, academic debate has thus been blocked. The sociological study deals with several politically relevant matters, including urban planning, governance, the environment and, of course, the role of the judiciary. The entire book is available online in a pdf-version. Asienhaus is a German NGO, the pdf-files are free.
Thanks - and best wishes,
Hans
Dr. Hans Dembowski
xxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxx
Contents / Acknowledgements / Glossary
Chapter 1: Introductive Overview (page 1)
Chapter 2: Democracy, Development and Functional Differentiation (page 8)
2.1 Why Democratic Governance Depends on the 'Public Sphere'
2.2 Historical Connotations of 'Civil Society'
2.3 Neoliberal 'Good Governance' and Leftist 'Democratization'
2.4 Governance Problems after Colonial Rule
2.5 Governance in India
Chapter 3: The Changing Role of the Indian Judiciary (page 48)
3.1 Problematic Rule of Law in a Historical Perspective
3.2 The Courts and the Political System
3.3 Public Interest Litigation
Chapter 4: Environment and Politics in India (page 63)
4.1 The Emergence of Environmental Policy
4.2 Implementation Deficits
4.3 Opposition to Government Deficiencies
4.4 The Situation of the Calcutta Agglomeration
Chapter 5: The Conflict over the East Calcutta Wetlands (page 83)
5.1 Land Use in East Calcutta and Patterns of Urban Sprawl
5.2 The Pre-Litigation Pro-Wetlands Campaign
5.3 PUBLIC v The State of West Bengal
5.4 M.C. Mehta v The Union of India
5.5 PUBLIC's Pending Contempt Accusations
5.6 Surojit Srimani v the State of West Bengal
5.7 Conservation Initiatives of the State Government
5.8 The Wetlands Six Years after the First Judgement
Chapter 6:The Howrah Matter (page 142)
6.1 The Civic Situation in the Howrah Corporation
6.2 The Howrah Ganatantrik Nagarik Samiti
6.3 Moving the Judiciary
6.4 Individual Issues
6.5 An assessment: The Court's Role in Changing the Polity
Chapter 7: Enthnographic Observations: An Overarching Lack of Trust (page 181)
7.1 The Approach of 'Thick Description'
7.2 The Judiciary
7.3 The Environmentalist Network
Chapter 8: Conclusion: Rudimentary Public Sphere and an Unresponsive State (page 206)
Annexures and References (page 220)
Timetable of events concerning the East Calcutta wetlands /
Timetable of events concerning the Howrah Matter /
Rough Sketch of wetlands map /
References: Books, Journals and Reports /
References: Newspapers, websites, legal documents
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->