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Ph.D University of Cambridge

M.Phil University of Cambridge  

MSc. University of Oxford

B.A (Hons.) Delhi University
 

Prof. (Dr.) Saumya Saxena

Associate Professor

Email saumya.saxena@jgu.edu.in
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ORCID ID 0000-0002-9104-8530

Ph.D University of Cambridge

M.Phil University of Cambridge  

MSc. University of Oxford

B.A (Hons.) Delhi University
 

Biography

Dr Saumya Saxena is an Associate Professor at the Jindal Global Law School. Her research interests include legal history, gender, family law, religion and secularism in South Asia. Her book, 'Divorce and Democracy: A history of personal law in post-independence India' was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022. Formerly, she was a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow and Affiliated Lecturer at the Faculty of History, University of Cambridge (2018-2023). 

She is also interested in legislative drafting and policy and has advised on the Justice Verma Commission, 2013, on amendments to laws on sexual violence against women in India, the 21st Law Commission of India (2016-2018), on family law reform in India and the Forced Marriages Commission, United Kingdom in 2019.
 
Her current research focusses on the legal history of superstition in India. She has a visiting fellowship at the Chinese University Hong Kong (2026-2027). 

  • Gender, Caste, and Society 
  • History
  • Legal History
     
  • University of Cambridge, Vice Chancellor’s Research Impact and Engagement Award, (Early Career Researcher), 2019.
  • British Council Alumni Award for ‘Professional Achievement’, 2018.
  • British Academy’s (Postdoctoral Fellowship) Award in recognition of outstanding academic merit, 2018.  
  • University of Hong Kong Faculty Conference Support Scheme, 2020.  
  • Intellectual Forum Conference Fund, Jesus College, University of Cambridge 2022.  
  • George Macaulay Trevelyan Conference Fund, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge 2016.  
  • Charles Wallace India Trust, India, 2015.  
  • Funds for Women Graduates, UK, 2015.  
  • Leche Trust Funding Award, 2015.  
  • Political Economy Society Trust, University of Cambridge, 2015. 
  • Smuts Memorial Fund for Research Support, Cambridge, 2014.
     

Saxena, Saumya, 'Hinduism and the Indian State' (25 June 2026), Oxford Bibliographies in Legal History (New York, NY, online edn, Oxford Academic.)

Saxena, Saumya. “Policing Sati: Law, Order, and Spectacle in Post-independence India.” Law and History Review (2023)1-23.

Saxena, Saumya, and Alastair McClure. "Law, Courts, and Constitutions in Twentieth-Century South Asia." Law and History Review 41, no. 2 (2023): 241-251.

Saxena, Saumya. Divorce and Democracy A History of Personal Law in Post-Independence India Cambridge University Press (2022).

‘Divorce and Democracy’, History Workshop Online January 31, 2022.

Saxena, Saumya. ‘Nikah Halala: The petition, the promise, and the politics of personal law’ in Tanja Herklotz and Siddharth Peter De Souza (ed.) Mutinies for equality: contemporary developments in law and gender in India Cambridge University Press (2021).

Saxena, Saumya. “Commissions, Committees, and Custodians of Muslim Personal Law in Post-independence India.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East3 (2018): 423-438.

Saxena, Saumya. “Court’ing Hindu nationalism: law and the rise of modern Hindutva.” Contemporary South Asia26, no. 4 (2018): 378-399.

McClure, Alastair, and Saumya Saxena. “Introduction: Law and Legality in Modern Indian History.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East38, no. 3 (2018): 367-374.

Law Commission’s Consultation Paper on Family Law Reform, August, 31, 2018.

Law Commission Report on Compulsory Registration of Marriages, July 4, 2017.

Law Commission Report on Hate Speech Law, March 23, 2017

Saxena Saumya. “Human rights and state-enforced religious family laws in Israel, Egypt and India by Yuksel Sezgin.” Book Review Jindal Global Law Review1, no. 7 (2016): 113-116.

Saxena Saumya. “Reinvention of Communal Identities and Implications for Democracy.” Economic & Political Weekly34 (2013): 47.

Justice Verma Committee Report on Amendments to Criminal Law, Ministry of Home Affairs, January 29, 2013.
Email saumya.saxena@jgu.edu.in
ORCID ID 0000-0002-9104-8530
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