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Shantanu Pachauri is an Assistant Professor of Law at RV University, where he teaches Criminal Procedure and Constitutional Law. He graduated from the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, and completed his post‑graduation at the National Law University, Delhi.
His research explores how sentencing frameworks and legal institutions shape criminal justice outcomes. In his LLM dissertation, he analyzed 2018 death‑sentence data from Madhya Pradesh trial courts and demonstrated how recent legislative and executive changes have eroded individualized sentencing.
He examines sentencing policy in sexual offences, the arbitrary application of the death penalty, the effectiveness of witness‑protection mechanisms, and the socio‑legal dimensions of criminalising triple talaq. He also analyzes how statutory responses to sexual violence can retraumatize survivors, expose the pitfalls of reactionary legislative amendments, and underscore the need to streamline sentencing norms. Some of these findings appear in the NALSAR Student Law Review, GNLU Law Review, NUJS SACJ Criminal Law Review, and NLS Socio‑Legal Review Forum.
In addition to criminal justice, Shantanu examines democratic governance and constitutional design. His co-authored article on simultaneous elections, published in the Indian Law Review, received an honourable mention in the ILR Best Article Prize (2022). The article argues that mechanisms like constructive vote of no-confidence, fixed-term legislature, and executive rule make the system rigid, attack the principles of democracy and federalism, and erode executive accountability towards the legislature.
He contributes short analyses to the IACL‑AIDC Blog, LSE South Asia Blog, Oxford Human Rights Hub, and Scroll.in. He also writes opinion pieces for newspapers including The Hindu and Hindustan Times.
Authored an article titled Recognising the arbitrariness in award of death penalty: An analysis of trial court judgments in the State of Madhya Pradesh in 2018, published in (Vol. VIII, Iss. I) The GNLU Law Review (ISSN: 0974-9810).
Co-authored an article titled Simultaneous Elections and Flexible Legislative Terms: A Constitutionally Preferable Approach, published in (Vol. V, Iss. I) Taylor & Francis Indian Law Review (ISSN: 2473-0599) (SCOPUS).
Co-authored an article titled A proposal for Witness Protection Programme: Need and Legal Ramifications, published in (Vol. XII) NALSAR Student Law Review (ISSN: 0975-0216).
Co-authored an article titled Criminalisation of Triple Talaq: Dissecting the Constitutional and Socio- Legal Aspects, published in NLSIU Socio-Legal Review Forum.
Co-authored an article titled Developing a uniform sentencing policy for rape with special reference to the issue of compromise, published in (Vol. II) NUJS SACJ Criminal Law Review.
Authored an article titled Uniform Civil Code: A Socio-Legal Perspective, published in (Vol. III, Iss. I) International Journal of Law and Legal Jurisprudence (ISSN: 2348-8212).
Authored an article titled How Constitutional Populism undermines Scientific Temper, published in Hindustan Times.
Co-authored an article titled Wrongful Convictions and Institutional Denial, published on Square Circle Clinic Criminal Law Blog.
Authored an article titled The Right to Health as a Paper Promise, published on IACL-AIDC Blog. Sept., 2025
Honourable Mention, Indian Law Review Best Article Prize, 2022 given by the Indian Law Review Prize Sub-committee and the Advisory Board for the article titled Simultaneous Elections and Flexible Legislative Terms: A Constitutionally Preferable Approach.
