# Amita Dhanda

Amita Dhanda is an Indian academician and activist. Earlier a Professor of Law, she is now designated as Professor Emerita at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. She was appointed as a member of the strong 14- Member National Advisory Council for the implementation of the RTE act in 2010. She is also on the Academic Council of Tamil Nadu National Law School. She started her career as a researcher at the Indian Law Institute, Delhi and since then has gone on to become a full-time Professor at NALSAR. She has contributed to the research of Mental Health and disability studies in India and is the head of the Centre for Disability Studies in NALSAR. Amita Dhanda identifies as a feminist and has written several papers based in gender. She has authored three books and is also a guest writer for Kafila, along with few other online news magazines and national dailies. Her expertise also extends to Interpretation Of Statutes, which she holds repute for.

## Early life

Amita Dhanda pursued LLM and then completed her PhD from Delhi. In 1984, she started as a researcher in Indian Institute of Law, Delhi. Justice Bhagwati, who was the then Chief Justice of India decided to have her clerk for him based on her capabilities. She worked at the Institute for 15 years, that is from 1984 till 1999. She learned how to write, research, edit and teach with the assistance of renowned scholars. In her time with the Institute, she did hands on research on the mental health of prisoners in West Bengal and also suggested amendments to the Disability Act of 1995. From 1999, she joined as a full-time professor in NALSAR, where she teaches Administrative Law, Law and Poverty, Law and Literature and Judicial Process.

## Career

Amita Dhanda teaches Legal Theory, Law and Poverty, and sexually-disoriented courses on pedagogy and inclusion. Dhanda became a professor of law and Dean (Academic) at National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) at Hyderabad after a five-year stint as a research faculty at the Indian Law Institute, Delhi. At NALSAR, she is head of the Centre for Disability Studies. She has written extensively on the legal position of persons with mental disability. Legal Order and Mental Disorder (published in 2000), Dhanda's book on the legal status of persons with mental illness is a pioneering effort in the field. She is also the Author of Decolonisation of Legal Knowledge and Engendering Law: Essays in Honor of Latika Sarkar. She has also edited N S Bindra's Interpretation of Statutes.
Dhanda was involved in the negotiations of the UN Ad Hoc Committee that drafted the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted in December 2006. In 2011, she was a leader of a committee set up by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of the Government of India for drafting a law on the rights of people with disabilities. Dhanda is assisting the Government of Gujarat in formulating a rights sensitive mental health law. Her research expertise has been drawn upon by international and national institutions such as the WHO. She is also activist for patients rights, particularly in attempting to give agency and protections to the mentally ill, as well as to protect women who are divorced on the basis of "mental illness". Dhanda's research has been referred to by premier institutions, both nationally and internationally, such as WHO, UNICEF, NHRC, NCW, NIMH. She is also a contributing writer for Scroll, an online political and cultural news magazine. She has also written several articles for The Hindu as well, a renowned national daily. The other online magazines and National Dailies she has written for include Frontline, Kafila and Indian Express.
At present Dr. Dhanda is engaged in research work which includes the field of mental health, child rights, disability and environment.

## Sexual harassment case

Professor Dhanda accused NALSAR Vice Chancellor Veer Singh of sexual harassment in 2011. She claimed that the Vice Chancellor sent her a mail on 22 December which contained a sexual innuendo, an allegation which the Vice Chancellor denied and said that he will file a defamation against Dhanda. However, no defamation case was filed. A committee formed by NALSAR chancellor, which included ex-Supreme Court judge S.S.M Quadri and Andhra Pradesh High Court judges Ramesh Ranganathan and V.V.S Rao, examined the allegations but did not find any merit to them. Subsequently, charges against Singh were absolved.

## Books

* eds. Baxi, Upendra. Dhanda, Amita. Valiant victims and lethal litigation: the Bhopal case. NM Tripathi, 1990.
* Dhanda, Amita. Engendering Law: Essays in Honor of Latika Sarkar. Eastern Book Company, 1999.
* Dhanda, Amita. Legal order and mental disorder. SAGE Publications Pvt. Limited, 2000.
* Dhanda, Amita. Decolonising of Legal Knowledge. Taylor and Francis, 2009.
* Bindra, N S. Dhandha, Amita. Interpretation of the Law of Statutes. LexisNexis, 2017.