Anindita is a multi-disciplinary activist-scholar whose research centres on the everyday state and the (im)possibilities of the law in addressing structural injustice. Their work on spatial justice questions in the context of housing culminated in a book on the construction of a legal right to housing, the first of its kind in India.
In their doctoral research, they probe how Indian law conceives of and leverages ‘the public’ to expand state power in its routine functioning.
Unveiling the power dynamics that undergird legality is an overarching preoccupation in Anindita’s research and teaching. They are also, as a consequence, deeply invested in creating public archives of legal materials that do not make their way into traditional legal analysis—for there is no accountability in the absence of information.
On this front, they are currently working on cleaning up, vetting and making available in their original volumes, a public archive of legislative debates from 1854 to 1952, encompassing the debates of the Indian Legislative Council (1854-1920), the Legislative Assembly and Council of States (1921-1947), the Constituent Assembly (1946-1949) and the Provisional Parliament (1950-1952).
They are also working to create a comprehensive database of union and state laws (current and repealed), policies, guidelines, and self-imposed codes of conduct that together regulate the media landscape in the country, though this effort is still in its fledgling stages.
Anindita has had a long association with NALSAR—as a student, researcher, doctoral fellow and, since 2023, as a member of the law faculty.
Their commitment to the institution and to teaching is born of a commitment to the fast-disappearing public university as a space of possibility and discovery for young people trying to understand the world and their place in it.
Contact Information
Room Number 51, Academic Block, NALSAR University of Law.