Members

Chairperson

Prof. Srikrishna Deva Rao

An eminent academician and scholar in Criminal Law and Access to Justice, Prof. Rao joined as the Vice-Chancellor of NLU Delhi in September, 2020. He was the Vice-Chancellor of National Law University Odisha between 2014 to September, 2020. Previously, he worked with NLU Delhi as Registrar and Professor of Law; making significant contributions to its growth and progress in its foundational days – especially in the areas of legal aid and clinical legal education. His major areas of research are in criminal law and criminal justice administration, and he has been actively engaged in teaching and research in human rights.

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Prof. Rao was a Fulbright scholar in 2018, and visited 14 Institutions in the USA, on behalf of the Fulbright foundation. He has the distinction of working with five prestigious law universities in India spanning over the past three decades: National Law School of India University, Bangalore; NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad; Gujarat National Law University, Gandhi Nagar; National Law University Delhi; and National Law University Odisha.

Prof. Rao has contributed to the development of teaching, research, and institution building throughout his career. Recently, he received the highest award in the field of Criminology, ‘Kumarappa – Reckless Award’ for his outstanding contribution in Criminal Justice Education in India, by the Indian Society of Criminology (ISC), Chennai in February 2020.

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Member & Convenor

Prof. (Dr.) G. S. Bajpai

Prof. Bajpai serves as Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Chair Professor at K. L. Arora Chair in Criminal Law, Director at the Centre for Criminology & Victimology (CCV), and Registrar at National Law University Delhi. He has held many positions in his professional career spanning over three decades and has also previously officiated as the Director and Registrar, National Law Institute University, Bhopal.

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Prof. Bajpai has authored 17 books and over 80 papers, 12 project reports, several monographs and over 30 articles in leading dailies like the Indian Express, the Hindu, the Tribune, etc. He is an Editor of three prestigious International Journals, namely: Journal of Victimology & Victim Justice; Journal of National Law University Delhi; and Indian Journal of Criminology.

As the Director of the Centre for Criminology and Victimology, NLU Delhi he has undertaken research projects for various reputed Govt. institutions, especially in the fields of Criminology, Victimology, and Victim Justice. He has been invited to deliver speeches, lectures and offer expert advice on various international platforms, and has travelled widely as a Post-Doctoral Fellow, Academic Visitor, Exchange Visitor and as an Expert to countries like U.K., U.S.A., Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Italy, South Korea, Hong Kong, Philippines, etc.

For his contribution to academics and research, he has been conferred with several awards and honours. He has been re-elected as President of the Indian Society of Victimology (ISV) and elected as the Vice-Chairman of the Indian Society of Criminology (ISC); both in February 2020. He was also elected to the Executive Committee of the World Society of Victimology (WSV) in 2017.

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Member

Prof. (Dr.) Balraj Chauhan

Prof. Balraj Chauhan is the First Vice-Chancellor of Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur. Prior to joining DNLU, Prof. Chauhan has served as Director, Amity Law School, Lucknow; and Vice-Chancellor of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow and of National Law Institute University, Bhopal.

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He has also been a Member of the UP State Law Commission, Member of UP State Legal Services Authority, and Executive Member, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute New Delhi. Prof. Chauhan has special interest in the fields of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Clinical Legal Education. He has completed several projects funded by the State and other National and International agencies, and was awarded the Dr. Kumarappa Reckless Award in 2009 for his contributions to the field of Criminology.

He has received several prestigious fellowships, including the Commonwealth Foundation Fellowship 2011, and the Fellowship of Indian Society of Criminology. He is visiting faculty to several National Law Universities, Judicial Training Research Institute, NIPCED, NJA, etc., and has been associated with the National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science of Bureau of Police Research and Development, Ministry of Home Affairs. He has visited various international universities in USA, UK, South Africa, Italy, Uganda, Philippines and Canada as an invitee.

A prolific writer, he has contributed several research articles to national and international journals, authored two books and edited books on Human Rights. He has over 40 years of experience in teaching and research, and several students have completed their LL.D. and Ph.D. under his guidance. He is Convenor, CLAT 2020, Consortium of National Law Universities; and President, Indian Society of Criminology.

Member

Shri Mahesh Jethmalani

An Oxford educated Barrister and a Senior Advocate practicing in the Supreme Court of India, he is both a trial and an appellate court lawyer. He has appeared in many celebrated criminal trials and other proceedings in which he has acquired, over the years, a reputation for his forensic skills and his outstanding advocacy.

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He commenced his practice in 1981 with the then high-profile prosecution of a sitting Chief Minister – A. R. Antulay in the Bombay High Court. Since then he has participated in innumerable landmark criminal trials such as the General Vaidya murder trial conducted in Yerawada Jail, the 1992 Securities Scam involving Harshad Mehta, the 1993 Bomb Blast case, the Nusli Wadia murder trial, the Tata Tea case involving ULFA, the 2001 stock market scam, Sadhvi Pragya, the Gujarat Riots cases, the Sohrabuddin case, David Headley’s deposition in the Bombay Sessions Court and Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter.

He has also appeared in prominent corporate legal battles on the civil side, the most prominent being Indian Express Newspapers v. Indira Gandhi Govt.; the Birla–Lodha feud; the natural gas dispute between the Ambani brothers and the Tata–Pallonji fallout. Presently he practices in the Supreme Court predominantly on the criminal side but also on civil and constitutional matters.

Member

Shri G. P. Thareja

Shri G. P. Thareja graduated with a degree of M.Sc. (Chem.) in 1965 and with a degree of LL.B. in 1967. He subsequently taught chemistry and law as Lecturer at Kanpur University.

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He served as a judicial officer in Delhi for 32 years before superannuation in 2004, during which he adjudicated upon several matters including the Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case and the Naina Sahni murder case. As a judicial officer, he was appointed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India to enquire into the matter of hawkers & squatters in the area of New Delhi Municipal Corporation. While serving, he obtained an LL.M. degree from the University of Delhi in 1979, and presented papers at the ‘World Congress on Law & Medicine’ organised by the Indian Law Institute (1985) and the seminar on ‘Criminal Justice in India – Problems & Perspectives’ organised by the Law Commission of India (1994).

Post retirement, he has donned the robes of an Advocate and appeared in several cases including the Arushi Talwar murder case, the CP Shootout case and the Uphaar Tragedy case. The Hon’ble High Court of Delhi has appointed him as Amicus Curiae in several matters and assigned him judicial work, including an enquiry in relation to illegal appointments in Hardyal Municipal Public Library, Delhi. He is on the panel of arbitrators at the Delhi International Arbitration Centre and is often invited by the Delhi Judicial Academy and National Law University Delhi as a resource person on procedural laws.

Member

Shri Praveen Sinha

Profile to be uploaded soon.

Member

Dr. Padmini Singh

Dr. Padmini Singh, Addl. Legal Advisor, Ministry of Law and Justice, is presently posted with the CBI. She joined as a Public Prosecutor with CBI in 2006, was promoted to Sr. Public Prosecutor in 2015, and joined the Ministry of Law and Justice as an Addl. Legal Advisor in 2019.

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She has conducted various sensitive and technical cases as Public Prosecutor and Sr. Public Prosecutor in the CBI, including the trial of CBI v. Sukh Ram (former Union Minister of State for Communications), CBI v. Vidhyadhar and others (JBT teachers scam), the Co-operative Group Housing Scam (referred by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi), the Tehelka cases — CBI v. Dilip Singh Judev, CBI v. Narender Singh, CBI v. Bangaru Laxman — as well as CBI v. Jaya Jaitley, CBI v. M. Raghupathy, CBI v. H. C. Pant, CBI v. P. Sasi, CBI v. Lalu Prasad Yadav & Ors., and CBI v. M/s INX Media Pvt. Ltd.

She has also been associated with the Supreme Court monitored Coal Scam cases, in which she was appointed as a Legal Advisor by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. She has lectured on Criminal Law at the CBI Academy, Ghaziabad, and has been conferred with honours and awards for her contribution to the prosecution of cases in the CBI.