Another Review of "Reserved"

This morning's Hindu published a somewhat belated review of Rajeev Dhavan's controversial book, Reserved, by N.R. Madhava Menon. If you follow this blog regularly, you may recall our own Venkatesan's review of the book, which provoked a rather unusual set of responses from the author.

Menon calls Reserved an unusual book and hints that he disagrees with Dhavan's controversial conclusion that parliament acted irresponsibly by rapidly enacting five constitutional amendments to overcome the Supreme Court' decisions on reservations. But Menon seems somewhat afraid to take on Dhavan directly. He suggests that the readers must decide whether the author is correct. That sounds like a cop out to me. Don't readers always have the prerogative to assess the merit of a book? What does Menon really think about the book? He hesitates to say. He does, however, make an important point that Dhavan's objectivity in criticising the Supreme Court's judgment in the Thakur Case is affected by Dhavan's appearance as counsel in the matter.