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Prof. (Dr.) Anup Surendranath


Professor Anup Surendranath is a professor of law at National Law University, Delhi, and is the executive director of Project 39A (a criminal justice program at the University). As a criminal justice programme, Project 39A works on issues of forensics, mental health & criminal justice, sentencing, torture prevention & accountability, and legal aid. Project 39A also provides extensive pro bono legal representation to prisoners sentenced to death across the country. Project 39A’s sustained representation of prisoners sentenced to death in the Supreme Court has led to significant changes and improvements in the law. Additionally, he holds the SK Malik Chair Professorship on Access to Justice at NLU Delhi and is also on the Advisory Council of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford. Professor Surendranath was invited by the Chief Justice of India RM Lodha in April 2014 to serve as the Deputy Registrar (Research) in the Supreme Court of India and served in that position until July 2015.
Professor Surendranath’s foray into India’s criminal justice system began with the Death Penalty Research Project (2013-16). The resultant Death Penalty India Report (May 2016) has been cited by the Law Commission of India, in parliamentary debates in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and also in reports of the United Nations and the UN Secretary-General. The project sought to develop a socio-economic profile of prisoners sentenced to death in India and also map their interaction with the criminal justice system.
Professor Surendranath’s doctoral research at the University of Oxford, supervised by Professor Sandra Fredman, was on equality and anti-discrimination in the context of reservation (affirmative action) policies in India.