Director – Prof. (Dr.) Saumya Uma

Saumya Uma is a recipient of the British Chevening scholarship on human rights. She has over 28 years’ combined work experience as an academic, law researcher, lawyer, trainer, writer and campaigner on gender, law and human rights. She has served as a research consultant on human rights, with international agencies such as the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNOHCHR) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). Her doctoral research was on formulating a legal framework for victim and witness protection with a specific reference to gender-based violence. Her current interests are: a) examining family law through a feminist perspective; b) victim and witness protection; c) freedom of religion and women’s rights; and d) situating women’s rights within the international human rights framework. She is presently preparing a book manuscript on violence against women and the Indian legal responses. For more details, see here.

Assistant Director- Prof. (Dr.) Niharika Banerjea.

Niharika Banerjea is uniquely situated as a transdisciplinary queer, gender and sexuality studies scholar, with critical empirical and collaborative work that crosses academic/activist borders and global north/global south divides. Her transnational collaborative work has been generously supported by competitive awards and grants, including an Economic and Social Research Council Grant, United Kingdom, and awards from the Leicester Institute of Advanced Studies, United Kingdom. She has about twenty years of consolidated undergraduate, graduate, and Ph.D. teaching, supervision, and mentorship experience across the United States and India. For more details, see here

Senior Fellow – Prof. (Dr.) Preethi Krishnan

Preethi Krishnan’s research explores the broad question of how state-society dynamics influence social change. She addresses this question through two thematic projects. Her project on Integrated Child Development Services (Anganwadi) examines how structures of gender, caste, and class influence how women claim entitlements for care and food. The second thematic project examines how the supreme court interprets domestic violence laws and impacts gender justice while adjudicating cases. In another collaborative project, her research explores how women navigated violence during the Covid-19 pandemic. For more details, see here

Fellow – Srujana Bej

Srujana Bej earned her undergraduate degree in law from NALSAR University in 2019 and graduated with a master’s degree in law from Harvard Law School in 2023. Her interests lie in property law, land laws, spatial justice, critical caste studies, and socio-legal research. see here

Fellow – Shama B.H. Abbasi

Prof. Abbasi is an Assistant Professor and Assistant Director, at Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Peace Studies, JGU at the O.P. Jindal Global University. She works with the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Peace Studies. Her research focuses on Islamic Feminism and the interface between State Power and Human Rights. For more details, see here

Fellow – Dr. Aditi Krishna

Dr. Aditi Krishna received her Ph.D. from Royal Holloway, University of London in 2021 with her doctoral thesis titled “Hindustani classical music and education: ‘Tradition’, values, and identity in post-1991 India”. Her thesis was an interdisciplinary project – drawing from the disciplines of Sociology, Social Anthropology, and Ethnomusicology or Anthropology of Music – and explored the way the values, traditional concepts, and the dominant discourse associated with Hindustani music are redefined, approached, subverted, and/or challenged today in a post-1991 neo-liberal India. For more details, see here

Fellow – Prof. (Dr.) Prerna Subramanian

Prerna Subramania (they/she) is an Assistant Professor at Jindal Global Law School, NCR. They hold a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada and their work on transgender mobility and middle class in India was supported by the OCUFA Henry Mandelbaum fellowship. Her research focuses on mobility, affective, and gender justice in pop culture. Notable publications include works in Agenda (2018), Society and Culture in South Asia (2022), Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture (2023), Media Asia (2023), Feminist Media Histories (2024) and South Asia Review (2024). For more details, see here

Senior Research Associate – Upasana Khattri

Upasana Khattri’s research centres on human rights and constitutional law, areas in which she has authored numerous articles published in national and international journals. She holds an LL.M. in Constitutional and Human Rights Law from National Law University, Delhi, and a B.B.A. LL.B. from Banasthali University, Rajasthan. Currently a Lecturer of Law at Jindal Global Law School.

Senior Research Assistant – Akshata Ahire

Akshata Ahire’s professional journey began with extensive experience in litigation, particularly in handling pro-bono cases, which reinforced her commitment to advocating for the rights of marginalised communities, especially women. Her teaching and research focus on the intersection of gender, caste, and law. Currently, she is pursuing a Master’s in Gender and Development Studies from IGNOU, further deepening her expertise in these critical areas.

Research Assistant – Pauline Forje

Pauline Forje’s interest and research are deeply influenced by her international background and education, spanning Europe and Africa. Her work focuses on the intersection of human rights and public policy in developing countries, emphasising the importance of South-South cooperation. For more details, see here

Research Assistant – Sheetal Shinde

Doctoral Fellow

Sheetal Shinde is a PhD Scholar at Jindal Global Law School, NCR. She holds a Master’s degree in Law from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, specialising in Human Rights. Distinguished by her academic excellence, she was the University topper in her course and was awarded four Gold Medals, including those for International Humanitarian Law and Best Research Project. Following her postgraduate studies, she served as an Academic Fellow at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, where she contributed significantly to the Centre for Women & Law (CWL) and the Centre for Child and the Law (CCL). In this role, she participated in multiple research projects funded by esteemed organizations such as NITI Aayog, the Centre for Reproductive Rights, and the Centre for Environment Law, Education, Research and Advocacy. Her research interests encompass gender studies, child rights, and the intersection of gender and religion. Sheetal has published research papers in the Indian Journal of Arbitration and Law (2018), Gender, Human Rights and Law (2021), and Social Change (forthcoming).

Senior Fellow – Prof. (Dr.) Sagnik Dutta

Sagnik Dutta’s research lies at the intersection of political theory, political anthropology, critical socio-legal studies, and feminist and critical international relations. Their doctoral research explored how debates on minority rights, gender, and religion in political theory can be de-parochialised by studying the meanings of these categories in the everyday life of social movements led by women. Their other strand of research focuses on counterterrorism, gender, and de-colonial approaches to security. For more details, see here

Senior Research Associate – Sanya Kishwar.

Sanya Darakhshan Kishwar researches in the area of human rights, gender studies and feminist theories. Her ongoing doctoral project at NLU, Delhi focuses on the rise of digital antifeminism in the Global South. She was the recipient of the Best Law Student of India Award, 2018 and SILF-MILAT full tuition scholarship for LLM at Pennsylvania State University. She received Liberty Scholarship for LLM, with specialisation in International Human Rights Law at the University of Leeds. Sanya has been the President of Indian Lawyers Association, Sonipat Chapter and a Council member of WICCI (Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry). She is also mentoring a student-led initiative called P’Voice which aims at simplifying laws for the awareness and understanding of common people. For more details, see here