
- Opinion
- 29 Jun 2024
- 1 min read
7-yr jail for marriage fraud, 1 yr for forced labour. What’s worse though?
This opinion was published in Times of India on June 29, 2024.
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About the Authors

Naveed is Senior Resident Fellow and Lead with the Crime and Punishment Team at Vidhi. His work focuses on decriminalisation of India's legislative landscape and reimagining India's approach towards Crime & Punishment. Previously, Naveed has worked on criminalisation of drug use and evaluated the government response to increasing violence against women. Naveed holds an undergraduate degree in law from National University of Law, Punjab and a Masters in Law from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Ayushi is a Senior Resident Fellow with the Crime & Punishment Team at Vidhi. Her work focuses on mapping of India's criminal law landscape and developing a framework for principle based criminal law making. Prior to joining Vidhi, she worked at Nirma University and National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar. She writes regularly for various national media outlets like Times of India, the Deccan Herald, Economic and Political Weekly etc. She graduated from National University of Law, Punjab (RGNUL) and obtained her Masters from the Indian Law Institute, Delhi. She is currently pursuing her doctoral studies at National Law Institute University, Bhopal, where her research is focused on violence against sexual minorities.

Aayush was a Project Fellow working at Vidhi, Delhi. His interest lies in the legal and structural design of public institutions - particularly the executive government and administrative agencies- with the objective of improving state capacity. He has advised Ministers, Parliamentarians, Legislative Assembly Members, bureaucrats and regulators on legal implications of executive proposals, litigation strategy relating to state policies, and questions around federal administration in India. Prior to joining Vidhi, Aayush worked as a Chief Minister’s Urban Leaders Fellow with the Government of Delhi, as a Law Clerk to a Supreme Court judge, and as a LAMP Fellow to a Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha. With combined experiences across the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary, Aayush's primary focus remains at the intersection of law and government structure. Aayush graduated from NALSAR, Hyderabad in 2018. He is a Madhubani artist with his own entrepreneurial venture, an un-trained but avid singer, enjoys cooking, and is an aspiring mixologist.