The Editors at Law School Policy Review also constitute the National Law School of India University Chapter of the Kautilya Society, a student policy research organization, sponsored by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. The Kautilya Society actively researches on and prepares policy briefs dealing with contemporary socio-legal issues, while engaging the student community in such research activities by setting up research panels on legislative matters, organizing conferences, and publishing informative podcasts where domain experts appear as guests. 

Conferences

The Law School Policy Review, in association with Vidhi, has thus far organized two major conferences on topical subjects: “Freer & Fairer: LSPR’s Conference on Electoral Reforms” on March 31, 2019 – on electoral reform in the run-up to the 2019 General Elections; and the “Blog Symposium on Law and Political Economy after COVID” in the aftermath of COVID, from August 8 – 23, 2020. 

Podcasts

Varta: Dialogues on India’s Constitutional Democracy

Indian constitutionalism is in a perilous state. Its ability to guarantee democratic governance and citizens’ rights are under deep stress. This democratic backsliding is not just on account of authoritarian and populist politics alone but is also manifesting itself through sophisticated autocratic legalism and abusive constitutional politics. In such times, it becomes important to evaluate various facets of sociological and political legitimacy and resilience of the Constitution, without giving in to idolatry, defeatism or obscurantism. Through the Varta podcast hosted on the Law School Policy Review, we aim to do the same.

Law School Workshop Series

The Kautilya Society supports the Law School Workshop Series (LSWS), an NLSIU initiative to promote legal research, writing, and publishing. The LSWS organizes reading sessions, discussions, and paper presentations where an engaging discussion can be had about a focal paper, enhancing its quality for publication and generating significant discourse in the process. The schedule for these workshops is routinely updated every trimester on the Law School Policy Review blog.

Policy Papers

The Law School Policy Review also hosts two comprehensive Policy Papers – where industry experts present sophisticated policy prescriptions to resolve the more nuanced problems of the law and policy; they are a valuable resource for any contemporary research in the associated field. The Kautilya Society is motivated to bring more such papers to the legal community and seeks to provide research and editorial assistance to similar scholarly ventures in the future.

G20 and India: Decision Support System (DSS) for COVID-19
(Dr. Arpita Mukherjee, Shouvik K Majumdar) 

In this paper, the authors conceptualize a Decision Support System (DSS) as part of a policy recommendation to harmonize efforts of the G-20 member states against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Arpita Mukherjee is a Professor at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), with over 20 years experience in policy-oriented research, working closely with policy makers in Government of India, EU, USA, ASEAN, APAC, WTO and G20 in areas like e-commerce, logistics and supply chain, ICT, trade & services. She has conducted over 50 studies for these organizations and has over 70 publications. She is a PhD in Economics from the University of Portsmouth, UK.

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Shouvik K Majumdar is a technology professional, with over 30 years experience in leadership roles,  developing technology capabilities for MNCs like British Telecom, American Express, Tata Consultancy Services, Royal Bank of Scotland and SSP Worldwide. Mr Majumdar has developed technology roadmaps for governments and private enterprises across USA, UK, Europe and India.  He is qualified in Strategy & Service Excellence from Harvard Business School.

 Zan aur Zameen: A Comparative Analysis of Muslim Women’s Right to Inherit Land in India and Pakistan (Padmini Baruah)

In this paper, the author has chosen to focus on how women acquire land through inheritance under Islamic law. An attempt has been made to compare the state of affairs in the two major players of the region, namely India and Pakistan. This analysis hopes to reveal differences between a state which is dominated by Hindus and has an ostensibly secular state policy, and a state which is constitutionally defined as an Islamic republic . Women are a minority in both these countries, but Muslims are only a minority in India. Thus, through this paper, the author seeks to understand the trajectories that both countries took around the question of Muslim women’s right to inherit after the end of colonialism in 1947.

Padmini Baruah is a Robert F. Meaghar Fellow at the The Fletcher School, Tufts University. She graduated from the National Law School of India University in 2016.  Her areas of interest include gender studies, political Islam, digital inclusion and migration.

Research Briefs

Domicile Reservations in National Law Universities

The public debate and legal developments around domicile reservations at National Law Universities raise crucial questions for the future of legal education. These concern the equity and inclusion within these elite institutions in a context where domicile reservations grant preference to candidates domiciled within a State with a hope that these local graduates will practice within these States. This brief provides clarity about the complex implementation of domicile quota along with other vertical and horizontal quotas. It also recommends a way forward for NLUs, the State governments and the Union government. The recommendations address four issues that emerge from the findings: a) juridical status of NLUs; b) interaction between domicile quota and existing caste and gender-based quota policies; c) constitutional validity of domicile status as the sole criteria for identification of quota beneficiaries; and d) measures to ensure fulfilment of the purpose of domicile quotas.

This research brief is an independent, non-commissioned piece of work by student fellows of Kautilya Society, NLSIU (Bengaluru). This brief has been written and edited by a team of student fellows including Prannv Dhawan, Binit Agrawal, Sarthak Wadhwa, Khushi Maheshwari, Kopal Mittal, Saumya Singh and Kriti Jain.

Read the full brief here- Domicile Reservations in National Law Universities.