Madhurima Dhanuka - Access to Justice, New Delhi Office

Madhurima Dhanuka is the Programme Lead of the Prison Reforms Programme. She is a lawyer with an LL.M. in Criminal Justice from the University of Nottingham, UK. Prior to joining CHRI she was practicing in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. She has been associated with CHRI since 2008, and has published numerous studies, reports and resource materials on issues relating to prisoners and the criminal justice system. The primary focus area of her work has been to target unnecessary and prolonged detention of undertrials and work towards systemic interventions to prevent it. In addition to working towards ensuring effective access to legal aid for persons in custody, she has also been at the helm of a number of public interest litigations on repatriation of foreign national prisoners, detention of juveniles in prisons and ensuring physical production of accused persons in court. She has contributed to a couple of UNODC publications on legal aid and was a part of the working group who drafted the Johannesburg Principles on Access to Legal Aid in 2014. There is hardly a moment you wont find her working, in case you do, she would be cooking or reading a book. She can be reached at madhurima@humanrightsinitiative.org. 

Sugandha Shankar - Access to Justice, New Delhi Office

Sugandha Shankar is a Senior Programme Officer in the Prison Reforms Programme. She is a law graduate from ILS Law College, Pune, and holds a Diploma in Human Rights and Law. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi. She also contributes by experience gathered from a WHO (World Health Organization) project, where she worked on the curriculum building project on International Diploma in Mental Health Law and Human Rights. She also participated in the Feminist Jurisprudence course conducted by the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. She can be reached at sugandha@humanrightsinitiative.org

Deepan Kumar Sarkar - Access to Justice, New Delhi Office

Deepan Kumar Sarkar is the Volunteer, West Bengal. He is an alumnus of La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata and holds a B.A.LL.B from the Department of Law, University of Calcutta and also a Diploma in Cyber Law from the Asian School of Cyber Laws. He has been working with CHRI since 2011. He is also a practising Advocate at the High Court, Calcutta and primary deals in Constitutional, Company, other Civil matters and at times, Criminal matters and preventive detention matters too. He has been associated with CHRI’s legal aid clinics inside the Alipore and Dum Dum Central Correctional Homes, helps with the research and preparation of CHRI Reports and works closely with the West Bengal State Legal Services Authority and the High Court Legal Services Committee to strengthen the Legal aid system in Jails. He is the co-author (with Samaraditya Pal, Barrister and Senior Advocate) of the multi-volume treatise, "India’s Constitution, - Origins and Evolution", published by LexisNexis (2014 onwards) and has also been a contributor to "The Law of Contempt" (by Samaraditya Pal) -  5^th edition, 2013, also published by LexisNexis. He has participated in the International Seminar on Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights organized by the Friedrich Neumann Foundation in Germany, has also trained young lawyers and politicians on Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights in Indonesia and has been part of various other CHRI seminars and training sessions. When not lawyering or doing CHRI work or writing, he loves being immersed in the film-verse of Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky, Satyajit Ray, listening to Indian and Western Classical music and reading on Philosophy. He can be reached at deepan@humanrightsinitiative.org

Prakhya CV - Access to Justice, New Delhi Office

Prakhya CV is a Consultant in the Prison Reforms Programme. She is a law graduate from Jindal Global Law School. Prior to joining CHRI, she was practicing in trial courts and the High Court of Karnataka, in Bengaluru and has experience in defending children in conflict with the law. She is passionate about marginalised groups' access to justice within the criminal justice system. At CHRI, she works on documenting conditions of prisons across India, liaising with prison authorities and state legal service authorities, and advocating for refugees and asylum seekers' rights. Some of their previous work experience has been with Alternative Law Forum, Parichay: the NRC Legal Aid Clinic, and Daksh. Outside of work, you can find her playing football and playing the ukulele.

Gautam Krishna Deka - Access to Justice, New Delhi Office

Gautam Krishna Deka is a prominent advocate at the Gauhati High Court, known for his profound legal acumen and commitment to justice. As the legal retainer for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), he plays a pivotal role in advancing human rights in the region. His academic journey, marked by a BALLB from National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam, and an LLM from The Energy and Research Institute, New Delhi, laid a strong foundation for his legal career.

Deka's work with UNICEF in Assam, where he led capacity-building programs and child rights seminars, underscores his dedication to social justice. His practice at the Gauhati High Court is diverse, with a primary focus on constitutional, company, and civil matters, while also handling complex criminal cases and preventive detention matters. His earlier experience at the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court has enriched his legal expertise, allowing him to approach cases with a nuanced perspective.

Since joining CHRI in July 2022, Deka has been actively involved in engaging with Assam State Legal Services Authority, Gauhati High Court and its subordinate courts, District Legal Services Authorities and Prison Authorities across Assam, advocating for systemic reforms and better legal access for the marginalized. His work is characterized by a deep sense of responsibility towards upholding the rule of law and ensuring that justice is accessible to all. Through his multifaceted roles, Gautam Krishna Deka continues to make a significant impact on the legal and human rights.

Seema Deswal - Access to Justice, New Delhi Office

Dr.Seema Deswal is a new recruit to CHRI as ‘Senior Programme Officer,’ Access to Justice, Prison Reforms. She is an academician from Sociology background. She is a Doctorate from Punjab University, Chandigarh and UGC NET (Sociology) qualified. She is a recipient of ICSSR’s Full Term Centrally Administered Doctoral Fellowship. Her Ph.D thesis is entitled as “Women in Law Enforcement: An Empirical Study of Occupational Challenges and Role-Conflict faced by women in police.” She has experience of teaching graduate and post-graduate college students; imparted training to prison officers; interviewed women police officers & staff;interviewed prisoners; and conducted group discussion with prison officers and allied stakeholders. Prior to this engagement she was working as a Course Coordinator-Cum-Research Assistant at Institute of Correctional Administration, a premier Prison Officer’s Training Institute, under Ministry of Home Affairs located in Chandigarh. She has also equipped herself with adult teaching-training methodology by participating in Courses like “Training of Trainers” and “Direct Training Skills.” Her core areas of interest include gender studies, police and prison reforms. Besides, professional work she likes to read books (non-fiction), loves to listen to music and have interest in sports activities. She can be reached at seema@humanrightsinitiative.org