Prof. Anurag Bhaskar
October 6, 2023 2023-10-11 6:43Prof. Anurag Bhaskar
Prof. Anurag Bhaskar
Assistant Professor
B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) (RMLNLU, Lucknow);
LL.M. (Harvard University)
Anurag Bhaskar is an Assistant Professor at Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat. He is also an Affiliate Faculty at Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession, USA, and a Visiting Faculty at Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, Delhi.
Anurag pursued his LL.M. from Harvard Law School (2018-19) and B.A. LL.B. (2012-17) from RMLNLU, Lucknow. Before pursuing his LLM, he clerked for Dr. Justice DY Chandrachud, Judge, Supreme Court of India, during 2017-18. His main areas of interest include constitutional law, social justice, affirmative action, democracy, and legal profession.
Anurag’s research and writings have been published in Economic & Political Weekly, Comparative Constitutional Law and Administrative Law Journal, Indian Journal of Constitutional Law, etc. His columns have appeared in Hindustan Times, The Wire, The Print, Live Law, etc.
Anurag is a recipient of the Bluestone Rising Scholar Award 2021 conferred by Brandeis University, USA, Indian Equality Law Fellowship at University of Oxford, and Summer Academic Fellowship 2019 at Harvard Law School. At JGLS, he received the Research Publication Award in 2021.
He is one of the founders of CEDE, an organisation working towards increasing representation in the legal profession and the judiciary. Anurag has also co-authored a report for the American Bar Association on the experiences of Dalits in the Indian legal profession and the judiciary. He is also an Editor at Journal of Social Inclusion Studies (Sage) and Law and Other Things blog. He served as Contributing Editor at Live Law during 2019-20. As an independent consultant, he assists a few Members of Parliament in their legislative work.
Before joining JGU, Anurag taught an elective “Law, Politics, and Social Transformation”. During his undergraduate legal studies, he assisted Uttar Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Department of Women and Child Development (Government of Uttar Pradesh) in a couple of research projects.
Articles/Book Chapters
- “Promotions, Creamy Layer, and the Reservation Debate”, Economic & Political Weekly (forthcoming)
- “Reservation as a Fundamental Right: Interpretation of Article 16(4) of the Indian Constitution”, Indian Journal of Constitutional Law (Oct. 2021), Vol. 10, pp. 1-30.
- “Challenges for Dalits in South Asia’s Legal Community: Dalit Justice Defenders in India”, American Bar Association (Oct. 2021), available at https://bit.ly/3qBt8Sh (co-drafted).
- “Law Clerks and Access to Judges: A Comparative Reflection on the Recruitment Process of Law Clerks in India”, Comparative Constitutional Law and Administrative Law Journal, 6, Issue 1, pp. 58-88.
- “‘Ambedkar’s Constitution’: A Radical Phenomenon in Anti-Caste Discourse?”, Caste: A Journal of Social Exclusion, Brandeis University, April 2021, Vol. 2(1), pp. 109-131.
- “Reservations, Efficiency, and Making of Indian Constitution”, Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. 56, Issue No. 19, pp. 42-49.
- “Ambedkar, Lohia, and the Segregations of Caste and Gender: Envisioning a Global Social Justice Agenda”, Caste: A Journal of Social Exclusion, Brandeis University, October 2020, Vol. 1(2), pp. 63-72.
- “Introduction: A Resurgent Icon”, in Bhagwan Das ed., A Stake in the Nation: Select Speeches of BR Ambedkar, Navayana (2020).
- “The Myth of Collective Conscience: Revisiting Death Penalty in India”, Economic & Political Weekly, 55, Issue No. 15 (11 April 2020).
- “Article 142 of The Indian Constitution: On The Thin Line Between Judicial Activism & Restraint”, in Salman Khurshid et al ed., Judicial Review: Process, Powers and Problems (Essays in Honour of Upendra Baxi), Cambridge University Press (2020)
- “Constitutional Rights of Atheists & Non-Believers”, Economic & Political Weekly, 53, Issue No. 38 (22 Sep, 2018).
- “Social Audit of Child Care Institutions: Experiences from Uttar Pradesh”, RMLNLU J, Vol 9, 2017. (Co-Author)
- “Damage to Democracy: Elitist Judgment of Supreme Court in Rajbala v. State of Haryana”, Economic & Political Weekly (EPW), 51, No. 40 (1 October, 2016).
- “Afzal Guru’s Case: The Undiscussed Aspect”, Economic & Political Weekly (EPW), Vol. 51, No. 32 (6 August, 2016).
Newspapers/Online (Select)
- “Redesign the political system for equality”, Hindustan Times (14 April 2022)
- “The Ever-Evolving Political Aspirations of Dalits in India”, The Wire (10 April 2022)
- “There has been a systematic effort to diminish the contributions of Dalits”, Hindustan Times (1 April 2022)
- “Ambedkar’s constitutionalism speaks to contemporary times”, Hindustan Times (25 November 2021)
- “The modern form of institutionalized casteism”, Hindustan Times (16 January 2021)
- “UP doesn’t need a new anti-conversion law. But India needs a stronger Special Marriage Act”, The Print (25 November, 2020)
- “Bar Council Of India v. Supreme Court Bar Association: Can The Bar Council Of India Interfere?”, Live Law (18 May, 2020)
- “Caste And The Statue Of ‘Manu’ In Rajasthan High Court”, Live Law (6 May, 2018)
- “When It Comes to Dalit and Tribal Rights, the Judiciary in India Just Does Not Get It”, The Wire (3 May, 2020)
- “Is It Ethical For A Sitting Judge To Publicly Praise the Prime Minister?”, Live Law (29 February, 2020)
- “Un-Indian, copied: 70 years on, Constitution is still attacked because we have failed it”, The Print (10 February, 2020)
- “Republic at 70: Preamble embodies Constitution’s vision”, Hindustan Times (25 January 2020)
- “Jailed for years: Why India needs a right to compensation for wrongful arrests & detention”, The Print (9 July 2019)
- Research Visitor (Fall 2022), Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford, funded by Indian Equality Law Fellowship programme.
- Summer Academic Fellow 2019, Harvard Law School.
Invited Speaker/Panelist/Resource Person
- Panelist, “The State of the Judiciary” theme, The Courts and the Constitution Conference 2022, organized jointly by NALSAR University of Law, Azim Premji University, and Law and Other Things blog (15-16 April 2022).
- Speaker on the topic “Ambedkar, Law, and Social Change”, at Dr Ambedkar College of Law, Aurangabad (13 April 2022, online)
- Panelist, National Conference on “Untouchability and Slavery: Case of Reparation for India’s Untouchables”, organised by Indian Institute of Dalit Studies & Rosa Luxenburg Stiftung, South Asia (10 December 2021)
- Resource Person, Ambedkar Summer School 2021, organized by Indian Institute of Dalit Studies & Rosa Luxenburg Stiftung, South Asia (19-24 September 2021) on the theme “Public Policy in Practice”.
- Panelist, “Institutional Casteism”, organized by Savitri Phule Ambedkar Caravan, National Law School of India University, Banalore.
- Resource Person, Ambedkar Summer School 2020, organized by Indian Institute of Dalit Studies & Rosa Luxenburg Stiftung, South Asia (18-23 October 2020) on the theme “Growing Inter-group Inequality in India: Emerging Challenges”.
- Speaker, Roundtable on “Transnational Solidarity: A comparison between Civil Rights and Social Movements in US and India”, organized by Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar (6 January 2020)
- Panelist, Harvard India Conference 2019
- JGU Research Excellence Award 2021
- Bluestone Rising Scholar Award 2021, conferred by Brandeis University, USA
- Report Writing on Dalits in Indian Legal Profession & Judiciary, commissioned by Centre for Human Rights, American Bar Association (2020-21)
- Editor, Journal of Social Inclusion Studies (Sage)
- Editor, Law and Other Things blog
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, JINDAL GLOBAL LAW SCHOOL, 2020- Present
Core Courses
- Interpretation of Statutes
- Constitutional Law II
- Professional Ethics & Bar-Bench Relations
- Gender & Society
Seminar Courses
- Socio-Legal Thought of Dr. Ambedkar
- Caste, Courts, & the Constitution (co-taught)
VISITING FACULTY, NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, DELHI, Fall 2019
Course Taught
- Law, Politics, and Social Transformation