Mr. Surendra Kumar

Assistant Professor of Law

kumarsurendra07@gmail.com , surendra@cnlu.ac.in drafts

About

Surendra Kumar is Assistant Professor of Law at Chanakya National Law University, Patna.He works at the intersection of international human rights law and public law, with a focus on intellectual history of ideas of equality, democracy and social justice. His research covers equality and affirmative action, comparative constitutional law, and federalism and democratic institutions. His current work studies how meritocracy became a terrain of caste agnosticism in as public law, and what that means for Indian democracy.

Before joining CNLU, he taught constitutional law at Ramaiah College of Law, Bengaluru, and at Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat where he worked under tutelage of Late Prof. (Dr.) Mahendra Pal Singh. Since 2017 he has served as Principal Reporter for India for Oxford University Press’s Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts, for which he has written 39 of the 66 reported Indian case commentaries, the largest contribution by a single reporter to that collection. A Chevening Scholar, he holds an LL.M. from SOAS, University of London, and an M.Phil. from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He clerked at the Supreme Court of India and writes regularly for a public audience on caste, merit, federalism and constitutional practice.

Qualification

LLM., SOAS, University of London. British Chevening Scholar. Dissertation: Rule of Law, Judicial Independence and Economic Growth: A Comparative Study of India and China, supervised by Professor Scott Newton.
M.Phil. (International Legal Studies), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Dissertation: Euthanasia: A Preliminary Study in International Law, supervised by Professor Bharat H. Desai.
B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow.
National Eligibility Test (NET) in Law, with Junior Research Fellowship (JRF); earlier qualified for Assistant Professor in November 2017 and July 2018.

Teaching / Research Experience

Teaching :

Assistant Professor of Law, Chanakya National Law University, Patna (September 2026 – present).
Assistant Professor of Law, Ramaiah College of Law (Autonomous), Bengaluru, affiliated to Karnataka State Law University (October 2023 – September 2026). Taught Constitutional Law and Labour Law II to undergraduate students and supervised LL.M. dissertations; conducted “Research & Use of Law Material”, an orientation module for first-semester students, every year; coordinated the college’s submissions for NAAC accreditation, drafting the narrative responses across all seven assessment criteria.
Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean (Scholarships), Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat (January 2020 – March 2023). Taught the mandatory Constitutional Law course (2021–23), co-taught with Prof. (Dr.) Moiz Tundawala and Prof. Jhuma Sen; Assistant Instructor to Prof. (Dr.) Mahendra Pal Singh for Comparative Public Law (Spring 2021), Comparative Constitutionalism (Fall 2021) and Equality: The Prime Virtue (Spring 2022); managed the JGLS Scholarship Committee (July 2020 – March 2023) as Assistant Dean.

Assistant Professor of Law, Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad (August 2019 – January 2020). Taught Legal Research and Legal Writing, and Law of Writs and Constitutional Law.
Teaching Associate (Law), Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie (February – August 2018). Prepared research and reading materials for IAS officer trainees and senior civil servants; developed a blended-learning video module and expanded the Law Faculty’s institutional repository.
Assistant Professor in Law, Amity Law School, Amity University, Lucknow (July 2017 – February 2018). Taught international human rights, international organisations, professional ethics and competition law.

Research :

Principal Reporter for India, Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts (ILDC), Oxford University Press (May 2017 – present). Manages the Indian jurisdiction for the Oxford Reports on International Law database: selects Indian judgments that bear on international law and writes scholarly commentaries on them, checking each judgment against the treaties, UN documents and foreign authority it relies on. Has published 39 commentaries on judgments from 1986 to 2024 of the Supreme Court and the Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Gujarat High Courts. Has recommended more than 50 cases that Oxford University Press commissioned for commentary.
Consultant, Karnataka Health Promotion Trust, Bengaluru (December 2024 – March 2025). Commissioned under IMPACT India, supported by The Global Fund (Grant Cycle 7), to assess human-rights barriers and gender challenges facing tuberculosis patients; delivered a 50,000-word report, “Tuberculosis in India: A Constitutional Biography and a Rights-Based Approach to Gender-Responsive Health Policy”.
Research Assistant to Prof. Laura Dudley Jenkins, University of Cincinnati (2014). Researched backward classes and religious conversions in India, work that fed into her Religious Freedom and Mass Conversion in India (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019).

Area of Interest

Constitutional law
Equality, affirmative action and caste
Federalism and democratic institutions: the anti-defection regime, Governors’ powers and delimitation
Comparative constitutional law, including affirmative action and religious freedom in India and the United States
International law in domestic courts
International human rights, refugee law and gender justice
Human rights and health policy
Environmental Law

Publications

Journal articles :

(with Swati Singh Parmar and Manwendra Kumar Tiwari) “Caste as a Provocateur to the Disordering of State”, University of Oxford Human Rights Hub Journal (forthcoming).
“Trysts of Courts with Religious Freedom in India and the US: A Comparative Analysis”, The Administrator (Journal of LBSNAA), vol. 59(1) (2019), pp. 46–48
“Hasan Ali and Swiss Vaults: Has India Learnt Anything from UBS Case?”, [2013] 36 taxmann.com 147 (International Taxation, Experts’ Opinion).
“Homosexuality: Reflections on Basic Facets of Human Rights, Legislations, Individuality, and Integrity”, RMLNLU Law Review, vol. 1(2) (2010), pp. 23–24
“A Critical Analysis of Airport and Economic Regulatory Authority of India”, NALSAR Aerospace Law Newsletter, vol. 2 (2010), pp. 11–12

Book chapters :

‘Blindness to Racial Caste: A Comparative Study of Affirmative Action in the United States and India’ (30 Oct. 2026), in Nadia E Brown, Meena Dhanda, and Kouslaa Kessler-Mata (eds), Politics and Government,in Meena Dhanda (ed.), Oxford Intersections: Racism by Context (Oxford, online edn, Oxford Academic, 20 Mar. 2025 – ), https://doi.org/10.1093/9780198945246.003.0167
“Comparative Analysis of Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard and Janhit Abhiyan v Union of India”, in P. McConnell and B. Chakka (eds.), Comparative Law: Contemporary Perspectives from the Global South (Springer, forthcoming 2027).
(with Harsh Vardhan Bhati) “Waste Management to Zero Waste: Global Perspectives and Review of Indian Law and Policy”, in C.M. Hussain, S. Singh and L. Goswami (eds.), Emerging Trends to Approaching Zero Waste: Environmental and Social Perspectives (Elsevier, 2022), pp. 79–101, org/10.1016/B978-0-323-85403-0.00013-X (Scopusindexed).
“Balancing Environment and Right to Development: Conflict and Conciliation of International Perspective”, in Sustainability: Ecology, Economy and Ethics (Indian Institute of Management Shillong / Tata McGraw-Hill), ISBN 978-1-25-905869-1.

Case commentaries :

39 commentaries in the Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts (ILDC), Oxford University Press, grouped by field below. The full list is on Google Scholar.

International maritime, criminal and environmental law. Liverpool and London SP and I Asson Ltd v MV Sea Success I and Anor ((2004) 9 SCC 512, ILDC 337 (IN 2003)); MV Al Quamar v Tsavliris Salvage (International) Ltd & Ors (AIR 2000 SC 2826, ILDC 338 (IN 2002)); Chrisomar Corporation v MJR Steels Private Limited ((2018) 16 SCC 117, ILDC 2828 (IN 2017)); Ukraine and Black Sea Shipping Company Ltd v Elitarious Ltd ((1999) 1 Cal LJ 141, ILDC 2894 (IN 1998)); Pride Foramer v India (AIR 2001 Bom 332, ILDC 466 (IN 2001)); Transmission Corp of Andhra Pradesh Ltd v Ch Prabhakar ((2004) 5 SCC 551, ILDC 336 (IN 2004)); Marie-Emmanuelle Verhoeven v Union of India ((2016) 6 SCC 456, ILDC 2809 (IN 2016)); State through Central Bureau of Investigation v Kumar (2018 SCC OnLine Del 12930, ILDC 2963 (IN 2018)); State of Himachal Pradesh v Ganesh Wood Products (AIR 1996 SC 149, ILDC 1016 (IN 1995)).
International human rights law. Pratap Singh v State of Jharkhand and Anr ((2005) 3 SCC 551, ILDC 454 (IN 2005)); Salil Bali v Union of India ((2013) 7 SCC 705, ILDC 2793 (IN 2013)); Independent Thought v Union of India ((2017) 10 SCC 800, ILDC 2826 (IN 2017)); Nipun Malhotra v Sony Pictures Films India Pvt Ltd & Ors (2024 INSC 465, ILDC 3664 (IN 2024)); Jeeja Ghosh v Union of India ((2016) 7 SCC 761, ILDC 2710 (IN 2016)); National Legal Services Authority v Union of India ((2014) 5 SCC 438, ILDC 2714 (IN 2014)); Pravasi Bhalai Sangathan v Union of India ((2014) 11 SCC 477, ILDC 2827 (IN 2014)); Safai Karamchari Andolan v Union of India ((2014) 11 SCC 224, ILDC 2829 (IN 2014)); DK Basu v State of West Bengal ((1997) 1 SCC 416, ILDC 2707 (IN 1996)); KS Puttaswamy v Union of India ((2017) 10 SCC 1, ILDC 2810 (IN 2017)); People’s Union for Civil Liberties v Union of India ((1997) 3 SCC 433, ILDC 2785 (IN 1997)); People’s Union for Civil Liberties v India ((1997) 1 SCC 301, ILDC 2965 (IN 1996)); Navtej Johar v Union of India ((2018) 10 SCC 1, ILDC 2928 (IN 2018)); Anita Kushwaha v Pushap Sudan ((2016) 8 SCC 509, ILDC 2976 (IN 2016)); Mandal v Deen Dayal Harinagar Hospital (2010 SCC OnLine Del 2234, ILDC 1848 (IN 2010), with Sarthak Malhotra); Anoop Baranwal v Union of India ((2023) 6 SCC 161, ILDC 3661 (IN 2023)); Society for Enlightenment and Voluntary Action v Union of India (2024 INSC 790, ILDC 3682 (IN 2024)); Nilabati Behera v State of Orissa ((1993) 2 SCC 746, ILDC 2715 (IN 1993)); RD Upadhyay v State of Andhra Pradesh ((2007) 15 SCC 337, ILDC 863 (IN 2006)).

Refugee law. Ktaer Abbas Habib Al Qutaifi v Union of India ((1998) 2 GLH 1005, ILDC 2786 (IN 1998)); Dongh Lian Kham v India (226 (2016) DLT 208, ILDC 2895 (IN 2015)); State of Arunachal Pradesh v Khudiram Chakma (1994 Supp (1) SCC 615, ILDC 2896 (IN 1993)).
Gender justice and equality. Shayara Bano v Union of India ((2017) 9 SCC 1, ILDC 2811 (IN 2017)); Anuj Garg and Others v Hotel Association of India ((2008) 3 SCC 1, ILDC 2897 (IN 2008)); Charu Khurana v Union of India ((2015) 1 SCC 192, ILDC 2892 (IN 2014)); Mackinnon Mackenzie & Company Ltd v D’Costa ((1987) 2 SCC 469, ILDC 2788 (IN 1987)); Seema v Kumar ((2006) 2 SCC 578, ILDC 2901 (IN 2006)); Municipal Corporation of Delhi v Female Workers (Muster Roll) ((2000) 3 SCC 224, ILDC 2969 (IN 2000)); Apparel Export Promotion Council v Chopra ((1999) 1 SCC 759, ILDC 2898 (IN 1999)); Sheela Barse v Secretary, Children’s Aid Society ((1987) 3 SCC 50, ILDC 2794 (IN 1986)).

Working papers and work under review :

“‘Social Distancing’ before COVID-19: Interrogating the Universalisation of Caste-Based Discrimination and Its Horizontality in Race” (2020), SSRN, com/abstract=3656151.
(with Anurag Bhaskar) “Promotions, Creamy Layer, and the Reservation Debate” (2021), SSRN, com/abstract=3755254.
“The Caste the Court Cannot See”, Special Article submitted to Economic and Political
(with Benarji Chakka) “Confronting Castelessness: The Caste Census and the Future of Substantive Equality in India” (2025), SSRN, com/abstract=5557599.

Academic blog posts :

Public commentary :

“Mandate Hijacked: The Constitutional Sin of the Seven AAP Defectors”, Newslaundry, 29 April 2026.
“The Constitution We Celebrate Isn’t the One We Live Under”, Newslaundry, 26 November 2025.
(with Rohan Naik) “What the Justice Pancholi Elevation Reveals about the Supreme Court”, Supreme Court Observer, 16 September 2025.
(with Benarji Chakka) “Caste Census Matters: It May Politically Trump the Current Majoritarian Project”, The News Minute, 28 May 2025.
“Why the Supreme Court Verdict on TN Governor Is a Double-Edged Sword”, Scroll.in, 23 April 2025.
“Censoring History: The Battle over Phule and India’s Caste Conscience”, The News Minute, 16 April 2025.
(with Benarji Chakka) “Creamy Layer and Judicial Overreach: Without Caste Census, Social Justice Is a Dream”, The News Minute, 26 August 2024.
“The Problem with Merit: A Patna HC Ruling Reflects Double Standards on Reservations”, Scroll.in, 6 August 2024.

Conference / Seminar / Workshop

Presented the findings of the IMPACT India study on tuberculosis and human rights, Karnataka Health Promotion Trust, Bengaluru (2025).
Participant, Dalit Justice Defenders Conference, Kathmandu (June 2024), organised by the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights and Dignity Initiative.
Presented a paper on racial caste and affirmative action in the US and India, International Conference on Comparative Law: A Story of Convergences, Divergences and Exploitation of Liminal Spaces, organised by VIT-AP School of Law with the University of Birmingham, Amaravati (February 2024).
“‘Social Distancing’ before COVID-19”, Junior Faculty Forum for Indian Law Teachers (2020); discussant Dr. Shreya Atrey (Oxford), chaired by Prof. Tarunabh Khaitan (Oxford).
“Balancing Environment and Right to Development”, 3rd Annual International Sustainability Conference, IIM Shillong (2013).
“Climate Change: Copenhagen and Beyond”, Indian Society of International Law, 39th Annual Conference, New Delhi (2010).
Paper on white-collar crime, 33rd All India Criminology Conference, Srinagar (2009).

Capacity Building Training Programmes

AI Fluency for Educators (certificate of completion), Anthropic, in partnership with University College Cork, Ringling College of Art and Design, the Higher Education Authority and the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (2026).
PACT Constitutional History Education Workshop (Faculty Development Programme), Ramaiah College of Law, Bengaluru (8 June 2026): faculty coordinator, with Rohan Naik, of a workshop that the Centre for Law and Policy Research designed under the Pluralist Agreement and Constitutional Transformation (PACT) Project, with support from the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Summer Programme in Public International Law, Xiamen Academy of International Law (2012 and 2013).

Honours / Awards / Membership

Honours and awards :

Chevening Scholarship (2015), awarded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK, for postgraduate study at SOAS, University of London.
Rhodes Scholarship Finalist (2013).
Xiamen Academy of International Law: Type A (highest) scholarship (2013) and Type B scholarship (2012) for the Summer Programme in Public International Law; Honours Certificate from H.E. Judge Peter Tomka, then President of the International Court of Justice, for outstanding performance.
RBI Young Scholars Award (2012) for “Banking Frauds with Special Emphasis on Electronic Banking: Issues and Response”, with a certificate of appreciation from the Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, Lucknow.

Membership :

Advocate, Bar Council of Delhi (enrolled January 2015).

Visiting Faculty / Guest Lectures / Keynote Address

Invited speaker, Faculty Research Forum, School of Law, BML Munjal University (online, 20 August 2025): presented “Deadlines for Democracy: The End of Governor’s Constitutional Exceptionalism?”, with Prof. Shardool Kulkarni as discussant.
Guest lecture, “Cyber Crime and Ethical Hacking”, Tata Motors, Lucknow (5 January 2013).

Other Accomplishments

Peer Reviewer, Chinese Journal of International Law (Oxford University Press).
Peer Reviewer, Forum for Social Economics (Taylor & Francis).
Edited the manuscript of Miscellaneous Law Referencer by Hon’ble Dr. Justice B.S. Chauhan (LexisNexis & Universal, 2016).
Head, Library Committee, Ramaiah College of Law (2023–26).
Moot Court Judge, 9th Monroe E. Price Media Law Moot Court, University of Oxford (2016), and the North-East Europe Regional Rounds of the 10th edition, Kyiv (December 2016).
Model United Nations (2010–23): more than 100 conferences internationally as chairperson, delegate and organiser.