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Ph.D. (University of Cambridge, UK)

MPhil. (University of Cambridge, UK)

MSc. (University of Oxford, UK)

 

Dr. Saumya Saxena

Associate Professor

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Ph.D. (University of Cambridge, UK)

MPhil. (University of Cambridge, UK)

MSc. (University of Oxford, UK)

 

Biography

Dr Saumya Saxena is an Associate Professor at the Jindal Global Law School. Her research interests include legal history, gender, family law, secularism, and politics in South Asia. Her book Divorce and Democracy: A history of personal law in post-independence India was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022.

Formerly, she was a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow and Affiliated Lecturer at the Faculty of History, University of Cambridge.

She is also interested in legislative policy and has advised on the Justice Verma Commission, 2013, on amendments to laws on sexual violence against women in India. She also advised on the 21st Law Commission of India (2016-2018), on family law reform in India and the Forced Marriages Commission, United Kingdom in 2019.

She did her MPhil (2012) and PhD (2016) at the Faculty of History, University of Cambridge, and her Master’s in Area Studies (2011) at the University of Oxford.

  • University of Cambridge, Vice Chancellor’s Research Impact and Engagement Award, (Early career researcher), 2019.
  • Dan David Prize Scholarship on the theme of ‘Defending democracy’, 2019.
  • British Council Alumni Award for ‘Professional Achievement’, 2018.
  • British Academy’s Award in recognition of outstanding academic merit, 2018.
  • Charles Wallace India Trust, India, 2015.
  • University of Hong Kong Faculty Conference Support Scheme, 2020.
  • Smuts Memorial Fund for Research Support, Cambridge, 2014.
  • George Macaulay Trevelyan Conference Fund, 2016.
  • Funds for Women Graduates, UK, 2015.
  • Leche Trust Funding Award, 2015.
  • Political Economy Society Trust, Cambridge, 2015.

Saxena, Saumya. Triple Talaq and the Public Life of Personal Law in India. Routledge (Forthcoming, 2025).

Saxena, Saumya. Triple Talaq and the Public Life of Personal Law in India. Routledge (Forthcoming, 2025).

Saxena, Saumya. Divorce and Democracy A History of Personal Law in Post-Independence India Cambridge University Press (2022).

‘Divorce and Democracy’, History Workshop Online January 31, 2022. For newspaper articles and television see https://saumyasaxenain.wordpress.com/articles/

Saxena, Saumya. ‘Nikah Halala: The petition, the promise, and the politics of personal law’ in Tanja Herklotz and Siddharth Peter De Souza (ed.) Mutinies for equality: contemporary developments in law and gender in India Cambridge University Press (2021).

Saxena, Saumya. “Commissions, Committees, and Custodians of Muslim Personal Law in Post-independence India.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East3 (2018): 423-438.

Saxena, Saumya. “Court’ing Hindu nationalism: law and the rise of modern Hindutva.” Contemporary South Asia26, no. 4 (2018): 378-399.

McClure, Alastair, and Saumya Saxena. “Introduction: Law and Legality in Modern Indian History.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East38, no. 3 (2018): 367-374.

Law Commission’s Consultation Paper on Family Law Reform, August, 31, 2018.

Law Commission Report on Compulsory Registration of Marriages, July 4, 2017.

Law Commission Report on Hate Speech Law, March 23, 2017

Saxena Saumya. “Human rights and state-enforced religious family laws in Israel, Egypt and India by Yuksel Sezgin.” Book Review Jindal Global Law Review1, no. 7 (2016): 113-116.

Saxena Saumya. “Reinvention of Communal Identities and Implications for Democracy.” Economic & Political Weekly34 (2013): 47.

Justice Verma Committee Report on Amendments to Criminal Law, Ministry of Home Affairs, January 29, 2013.
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