The Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy (‘Vidhi’) is an independent think-tank doing legal research to make better laws and improve governance for the public good. We do this through high quality, peer reviewed original legal research; through engaging with the Government of India, State governments and other public institutions to both inform policy-making and to effectively convert policy into law; and through strategic litigation petitioning courts on important law and policy issues. Our abiding values are non-partisan engagement, research excellence and independence.
Vidhi is a not-for-profit company set up under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 in 2013 (now Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013).Donations to Vidhi are tax exempt under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
The idea of Vidhi came about in 2009-10 when India was caught up in the controversy around the Indo-US nuclear liability bill. We were a group of graduate students who felt that there was room for significant improvement in the bill and sent in an unsolicited report to the standing committee of the Parliament. Many of our suggestions were accepted by the standing committee and the Government of India and are the law of the land.
This approach is at the core of Vidhi – to do high-quality law and policy research and engage with key stakeholders to drive real change. It has been an incredible journey so far where we have contributed significantly to a range of reforms, such as the creation of the new bankruptcy ecosystem, drafting of the data protection bill, repealing of 119 laws that discriminate against persons affected by leprosy etc. and intend to continue to deepen our impact.
– Arghya Sengupta, Research Director, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy
Founding Team
Alok Prasanna
Co-Founder
B.A. LL.B. (Hons), NALSAR University, BCL (Oxon)
Arghya Sengupta
Founder and Research Director
B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), BCL (Oxon), D.Phil. (Oxon), Rhodes Scholar
Debanshu Mukherjee
Co-Founder and Lead, Corporate Law and Financial Regulation B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), BCL (Oxon), LLM (Harvard), Fulbright Scholar
Dhvani Mehta
Co-Founder and Lead, Health
B.L.S. LL.B. (University of Mumbai), BCL, D.Phil (Oxon)
Vidhi's Footprint
183
Blogs
3
Books
9
Briefing Books
72
Conferences organised by Vidhi
6
Films
37
International Partnerships
50
Journal Articles
115
Conferences attended by Vidhi
580
Op-Eds
42
Podcasts
138
Reports
37
Submissions
37
Statutes Vidhi assisted the government in drafting
40
Rules and regulations Vidhi assisted the government in drafting
4
Parliamentary Committees to which Vidhi has made depositions
88
Government projects (central, state, commissions, committees etc) to which Vidhi has provided research assistance
2
Litigation
Impact At A Glance
Initiated the bankruptcy law reform process in India and advised the government on the design, drafting, and implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. 2016 (IBC)
Supported the UIDAI in drafting the Aadhaar Act, 2016, which made UIDAI a statutory body that has over time been universally accepted, including by the Supreme Court
Successfully intervened in a Supreme Court case on advanced medical directives, now advocating for a holistic end of life care act
Assisted the Justice Srikrishna Committee in drafting the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 – the first comprehensive privacy legislation in India
Supported the State government in drafting the Karnataka Innovation Authority Act, now drafting rules & regulations for implementation
Advised the government on reforming India’s company law regime and helped in the operationalisation of the National Company Law Tribunal
Shaping the discourse on judicial reforms through JALDI’s (Justice, Access and Lowering Delays in India) empirical research and collaborations with diverse stakeholders to develop implementable solutions
Successfully filed a Public Interest Litigation to repeal laws that discriminate against persons affected by leprosy
