Project Team

Professor C. Raj Kumar, Chief Executive Officer
Professor C. Raj Kumar has taught for more than five years at the School of Law of City University of Hong Kong. He is an Honorary Consultant to the National Human Rights Commission in India and the Chief Executive Officer of the Legal Education and Research Society (LEARS), an India-based non-profit legal education and research promotion institution. He was a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, UK, where he obtained his Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) degree; a Landon Gammon Fellow at the Harvard Law School, USA, where he obtained his Master of Laws (LLM) degree and a James Souverine Gallo Memorial Scholar at the Harvard University. He also obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Delhi, India; and a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) degree from the University of Madras, India. Professor Kumar’s areas of specialisation include human rights and development, corruption and governance, law and disaster management and legal education. He has more than one hundred publications to his credit. He has published widely in journals and law reviews in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Japan and the USA. Professor Kumar has been a Consultant to the United Nations University (UNU), Tokyo; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and the International Council for Human Rights Policy (ICHRP), Geneva. He has advised the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC) in Sri Lanka and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in India on issues relating to corruption and good governance. Professor Kumar is an Attorney at Law and is admitted to the Bar Council of Delhi, India and to the Bar of the State of New York, USA.

The OPJGJKS has authorised Dr. Sanjeev P. Sahni, Head, Strategic Human Resources, Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) to represent the OPJGJKS in matters relating to establishment of the JGU and JGLS.

Dr. Sanjeev P. Sahni
Dr. Sahni works in the Corporate office of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd., India’s fastest growing steel company, part of USD 8 billion Jindal Organization, and is responsible for all works related to human resources including Talent Management, Development, Retention, Education and Learning for the group. He is well versed on global human resources policies, systems and processes. He has been instrumental in leading and steering the human resources function during the growth phase of the company. Dr.Sahni firmly believes that while retaining focus on staff development, the human resources should provide pro-active leadership to meet the changing global business scenario. Dr.Sahni was responsible for setting up the Performance Enhancement Centres at various locations across India. Dr. Sahni holds a PhD in Organizational Behavior, and a Post Graduate degree in Psychology with specialization in Industrial Psychology, from Punjab University, Chandigarh. He has 21 years of experience in the field of human resources and general management. An eminent academician, Dr. Sahni is member, life member, executive member and Secretary to various National and International academic societies. He has published numerous research papers in various indexed journals of national / international repute. He has authored, co-authored, edited and reviewed many books. Dr. Sahni has delivered lectures and keynote addresses at various institutes of repute in India and abroad. He has a unique combination of science and human resources management. He was a visiting scientist at the University of Illinois, Chicago and the University of Houston, Texas, USA.

Dr. A. Francis Julian, Chief Legal and Planning Advisor
Dr. A. Francis Julian is a distinguished practitioner and an academic in law. He is a Senior Advocate in the Supreme Court of India having more than thirty years of experience in legal profession. He holds a Doctor of Juridical Sciences (SJD) degree from Tulane University, USA, and Master in Comparative Laws Degree (MCL) from Southern Methodist University, USA. He has obtained the Master of Laws and Bachelor of Laws Degrees from the University of Madras with distinction. He has been practising law extensively in various branches of law. He was actively involved in reforming personal law of Christians in India along with the National Churches, which resulted in the Indian Divorce Amendment Act, 2001. He was a member of the delegation representing the Holy See in the Forty-Fifth Golden Jubilee Annual Session of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) in 2006. As the National Rapporteur for International Association on Procedural Laws, XII World Congress, Mexico 2003 he contributed to the report on Procedural Laws on Family Dispute Resolution in India. He has spoken and contributed articles on disaster management law in India which has been published in edited books on Disaster Management Laws by the Indian Law Institute, New Delhi and Sweet & Maxwell, Hong Kong. He has been a contributor to the Annual Survey of the Indian Law Institute on Arbitration Law since 2005. He has published articles on various public law issues. He has been teaching the subjects of International Commercial Arbitration and Maritime Law as a visiting faculty in the Indian Law Institute and is a supervisor for doctoral students. He was a Member of the Board of Directors of Oikocredit International, Netherlands (1999-2005), which is a leading global financial Institution providing loan to microfinance institutions and development projects at global level. He is an active member of the boards of several academic and non-governmental organizations both in India and abroad.

Professor D.K. Srivastava, Advisor on University and Law School Governance Policies
Professor D.K. Srivastava obtained his LLB and LLM from Banaras Hindu University and Ph.D from Monash University. Professor D.K. Srivastava was till recently a Professor and Associate Dean at the School of Law, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. He has more than thirty-five years of teaching and research experience. He has held academic appointments at Monash University, Canberra University and Curtin University in Australia. He was the Head of Department of Law at the University of Papua New Guinea. His areas of specialisation include torts, contracts and commercial law. He has authored, co-authored, edited or co-edited nineteen books and published numerous journal articles and book chapters. He has held visiting appointments at the Australian National University and the University of Victoria in Australia and the University of South Pacific in Fiji. He has delivered lectures at various institutions and presented papers at several international conferences.

Professor Jane E. Schukoske, Advisor on Academic and Global Affairs
Professor Jane E. Schukoske served the United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI) as its Executive Director from May, 2000 through April, 2008. She earned her B.A. from Boston University, J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law, and LL.M from Georgetown University Law Center. From 1988 to 2000, she taught on the faculty of the School of Law, University of Baltimore, and earned tenure in 1994. She taught Contracts, Law and Social Reform, and Professional Responsibility, and directed clinical legal courses in which students represented community groups in Baltimore. She team-taught a summer course at University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and was a Fulbright senior scholar at the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. She has guest-lectured at law schools in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. She participated in the American Bar Association Central and Eastern European Law Initiative activities in Ukraine. She has contributed book chapters on international education, including in Kulwant Kaur & Baljit S. Mann, eds., South Asia: Dynamics of Politics, Economy and Security (2006); Dr. Mizanur Rahman, ed., Human Rights and Non-State Actors (2005); K.B. Powar and K. L. Johar, eds., Private Initiatives of Higher Education (2004), and has written law review articles on law reform, environmental and community development topics. She engages with higher education networks including the American Association of Law Schools Clinical Legal Education Section; the Global Alliance for Justice Education; NAFSA, Association of International Educators; Association of International Education Administrators; and South Asian Studies Centers.

Professor B.B. Pande, Advisor on Curriculum Planning, Research and Development (Criminal Law & Law of Evidence)
Professor B.B. Pande, was till recently, a consultant to the National Human Rights Commission of India. He was a Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. His areas of specialisation are Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Law of Evidence, Criminology, Juvenile Justice, Human Rights and Jurisprudence. He has over 75 published research papers and comments in both international and national journals and compilations. Before joining the University of Delhi, he taught at Lucknow University (1991-1994), where he was also Dean and Head of the Department of Law from 1993-1994. He was awarded the Max Planck Fellowship by the Max Planck Institute of International and Foreign Penal Law, Freiburg, Germany (1988, 1992, 1995 and 1997). He received the Senior Social Scientist Award (1995) and the Kumarappa-Reckless Award, 2002 from the Indian Society of Criminology in October 2003.

Professor Parmanand Singh, Advisor on Curriculum Planning, Research and Development (Constitutional Law & Jurisprudence)
Professor Parmanand Singh was a Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. He was the Dean and Head, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi (2001-2003). Professor Singh has been teaching law since 1964 and has taught the subjects of constitutional law, human rights and jurisprudence. He has written 70 research papers mainly on public interest litigation, equality and compensatory discrimination and various issues of human rights relating to bonded labourers, untouchables, persons with disabilities, and the poor. His book, Equality, Reservation and Discrimination in India (1982) has been widely acclaimed. He was a visiting fellow at the Max Planck Institute, Heidelberg in 2000, and has contributed papers at International Conferences held at the South Asia Institute, Heidelberg (1986), Waseda University, Tokyo (1999), Kansai University, Osaka (1999), and the Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin (2003).

Professor M.P. Singh, Advisor on Curriculum Planning, Research and Development (Administrative Law & Comparative Law)
Professor Mahendra P. Singh is the Vice Chancellor of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata. Earlier, he was a Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi where he was also the Head and Dean Faculty of Law. From 1981 to 1982 and again in 1985, he was Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at Heidelberg. From 1987 to 1988, he was visiting professor and Head of the Law Division at the South Asia Institute, Heidelberg; and from 1991 to 1992, he was a visiting professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Heidelberg. From 1999 to 2000 and in 2001, he was a fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg, visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong and City University of Hong Kong from 1993 to 1995, in 1998 and 2000 and at Kansai University, Osaka in 2002. In 2002, he was awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the Institute for Advanced Study (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin), in Berlin, Germany where he spent ten months during 2002 and 2003. He has also been working on and collaborating in national and international research projects. Comparative public law and human rights are his major interests.

Ramanujam Padmanabha, Research Associate
Mr. Padmanabha Ramanujam is currently a PhD student specializing in Intellectual Property and Competition Law as part of highly competitive Asia Link Project. As part of this project and research fellowship, he was chosen to participate in the sandwich program, sponsored by European Union at University of Hamburg, Institute of Law and Economics, Germany. He holds Master of Laws in Intellectual Property Rights from University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, UK with a Distinction Class. During his time with UEA he was the recipient of University of East Anglia International Scholarship, Norwich Law School Scholarship and also won the best International Applicant Award. He has also obtained Master in Business Laws degree from National Law School of India University, Bangalore. He has obtained Bachelor of Laws degree from Bangalore University. His work experience as a legal advisor with Wipro Technologies from November 2002 to February 2004 is worth a mention. He has published many empirical and theoretical papers on various issues relating to intellectual property rights, open source, culture studies and innovation. His paper titled ""Justification of Intellectual Property Rights: A Game Theory Perspective", is also included as part of Professional Reference Book titled "Management Games-A Trainers Handbook". Mr. Padmanabha has also been invited as resource person in many international seminars, workshops and conferences. In February 2008, he was invited to present paper at the American Association of Behavioral and Social Science conference, held at Las Vegas. He has also been part of many international work shops and research projects. He is an active member at DIME (Dynamics of Institutions and Markets in Europe), which is a network of social scientists in Europe and AABSS (American Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences), which is an interdisciplinary professional society offering a collegial forum to share research and academic concerns in all areas of the Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Jonathan Gingerich, Research Fellow
Jonathan Gingerich is a student at Harvard Law School, where he has completed his first year in the J.D. program. He is a Senior Technical Editor for the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, an Articles Editor and a Solicited Content Editor for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, and a Hearing Coordinator and Executive Board member for the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project. In 2007, he received his A.B. in Philosophy and History from Georgetown University, where he founded the Critical Theory Society and the Georgetown University Critical Theory Journal and served as president of the policy debate team.