The Speaking Constitution

‘This unfinished Sisyphean struggle has not made me tire of it; mine has been the struggle for a better world and the struggle is its own reward.’

The Speaking Constitution takes a close look at the functioning of the Constitution and the development of the idea of justice through the courts, mapping in the process a legal geography of civil liberties in India through the work of one of its most committed campaigners.

An edited translation of the oral memoir narrated by advocate and human rights activist K.G. Kannabiran (1929-2010), this book is reflective of Kannabiran’s lifelong battle with the state and his work in the civil liberties movement in India.

From Ansari Begum’s deportation case in the aftermath of Partition to encounter deaths and custodial killings, the work of citizens’ tribunals in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat massacre, the peace talks and negotiations between Naxalites and the Andhra Pradesh government, the highly polarizing trial of Afzal Guru and the question of the death penalty, Kannabiran shines light on human rights violations in courts across the country and the radical possibilities the Constitution offers citizens today. In the process, he maps a legal geography of the civil liberties movement in India.

Rich in detail and insightful, The Speaking Constitution: A Sisyphean Life in Law interweaves personal history with that of courtcraft and politics to create an unparalleled account of the evolution of jurisprudence in India.