Professor Sathe examines judicial review and its role in democracy in this monograph. The author has added a new introduction of 49 pages to the paperback edition wherein he has comprehensively covered the recent developments in the area. Judicial activism, argues Prof. Sathe, is inherent in judicial review. It is through judical activism that the constitutional court to an activist one has been as ongoing process. Sathe tackles the question of the court's accountability, and the role and the concept of the social accountability of courts. The book is an important contribution to the debate on the role of courts and the ramifications thereof. The coverage is not only legal, but also historical, political, and philosophical.

The new, updated introduction covers all the important judicial pronouncements in recent times which highlight the fact that the Supreme Court of India has continued to play the role of a positivist court. Important decisions have been critically analysed by Prof. Sathe on issues of Secularism, The Majority's Right Equal to the Minority Right, Right to Establish Educational Institutions included in Right to Trade and Business, Right of Religious Denominations to Establish Religious and Charitable Institutions, Right ot Education, New Economic Policy of Disinvestment, Parliament and the Supreme Court- Conflicting Claims of Supremacy, and other related issues like Can Parliament Change the Law Laid Down by the Supreme Court? This updated edition makes this volume the most comprehensive and updated book on judicial activism. This book has been cited by Justice Laboti in P. Ramchandra Rao versus the State of Karnataka (2002).