About The Life of the Law Dialogues

‘The Life of the Law Dialogues’, organised by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and the Keshav Suri Foundation, explores how queer individuals’ lived experiences and legal battles illuminate the complex relationship between law, justice, and equality in India.

About the Discussion

For the second part of our series, we invite you to join The Life of the Law Dialogues: Life After Supriyo for an in-depth conversation on the legal, social, and policy developments shaping queer rights in India, featuring Menaka Guruswamy, Arundhati Katju, and petitioners Aditi Anand, Susan, and Zainab Patel, in dialogue with moderators Jwalika Balaji and Aashna Mansata.

Event Details

Date: 22 November 2025
Time: 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Venue: Regency 1 & 2, The LaLiT, New Delhi

About the Panelists

Menaka Guruswamy– Dr Menaka Guruswamy, designated Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court of India in 2019, focuses on complex litigation related to commercial and criminal law, sports law and also works on issues of technology and law. Menaka has argued in some of the most complex and high-profile disputes before the Supreme Court of India, including the Navtej Singh Johar v Union of India.

Menaka is a Trustee of the Rhodes Trust, Oxford, UK, and a former Rhodes Scholar. She holds a D.Phil. and BCL from Oxford University, and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School. Along with Arundhati, she jointly received the University of Virginia’s Jefferson Medal in Law, becoming the first non-American recipient. In 2019, she was named to Foreign Policy magazine’s list of 100 most influential Global Thinkers, and jointly with Arundhati, she featured on TIME Magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People of the Year.

Arundhati Katju– Arundhati Katju is a Senior Advocate practising at the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court. She has appeared on some of the most high-stakes constitutional and criminal matters before India’s highest courts. Arundhati successfully represented the lead petitioners in the Indian Supreme Court’s historic judgment in Navtej Singh Johar v Union of India. She was also the nodal counsel in the 2023 challenge for same-sex marriage before the Supreme Court of India, in Supriyo v. Union of India.

Arundhati holds an LLM from Columbia Law School, where she was the recipient of the Human Rights Fellowship. She has a BA LLB (Hons) degree from the National Law School of India, Bangalore. Arundhati and Menaka jointly received the Jefferson Medal in Law from the University of Virginia in 2023. They were also featured in TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019.

Aditi Anand– Aditi is a film producer, storyteller, and co-founder of Neelam Studios and Little Red Car Films. Her productions include The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir, Writer, J Baby, and the recently released Bison Kaalamaadan. Bridging North and South Indian cinema, she is known for championing bold, culturally rooted, and politically conscious storytelling. Beyond cinema, Aditi leads initiatives that blend creativity, community, and social impact.

Susan– Susan is an entrepreneur who runs Native Brews and Native Foods based out of Mumbai and Delhi. Native is an alco-beverage organisation that researches and develops indigenous Indian spirits, beers and wines. Native has been involved closely with the movement for legalisation, development and commercialisation of the Indian indigenous flower-based Mahua spirit. Its work has extended to the development and marketing of food-grade dried Mahua flowers as a food product, creating a value chain from local tribal communities to end consumers.

Susan is also a founding partner in Adiz Marketing Solutions LLP, a marketing and advertising agency that specialises in the agricultural and agri-input, forest and allied forest produce sectors. Susan is a Chartered Accountant and has worked with Ernst & Young (Mumbai) in their taxation practice for 6 years as a mergers and acquisitions tax specialist. She lives in Gurugam with her partner, dog and son.

Zainab Patel– Zainab is one of India’s leading voices on diversity, equity, and inclusion. A transgender woman from Mumbai, she was a historic petitioner in NALSA v. Union of India and later in the Marriage Equality case. With 15+ years at the intersection of social justice and corporate change, she has driven DEI strategies with Cummins India, Pernod Ricard, KPMG, and UNDP. As founder of The Trans Café and The Transformation Salon, she demonstrates how livelihood builds dignity—employing 30+ trans and non-binary people. A Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, Zainab is a sought-after speaker on LGBTQ+ inclusion, workplace equity, and intersectional leadership.

Agenda