CEDE

Envisioning an Inclusive Legal System

CEDE (Community for the Eradication of Discrimination in Education and Employment) is a network of lawyers, law firms, judges, other organisations, and individuals, who are committed towards reforming the Indian legal profession.

Even 70 years after the enactment of the Constitution, there is systemic under-representation of Dalits (Scheduled Castes), Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes), Other Backward Classes, Nomadic & De-notified communities, transgender individuals, persons with disabilities, people from North-East India, and other minorities in both the legal profession and the judiciary. In the absence of due representation, the legal profession and the judiciary cannot ever be truly representative of the historically marginalised.

What we do to reduce the gap in representation

Organising internships for the marginalised

CEDE organises internships for students from marginalised communities by crowdsourcing opportunities via the cession of social capital by the privileged in the legal profession. Our network of lawyers commits to offering at least one paid internship each year to a student selected by us from marginalized social backgrounds. We use a centralised system via which candidates apply and get shortlisted for these internship positions. The basis of selection is not only academic excellence, but various additional parameters including, but not limited to, caste, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, income, residence, and parent’s education, to ensure an intersectional selection. Further details regarding our selection process is available here.

If you would like to join our network of lawyers, please register here.

Capacity-building

We are cognisant of the fact that opportunities are often not enough when the starting line differs so dramatically. Several technical and soft skills are not accessible to students from marginalised communities, either because they are simply not taught to them or even if taught, it is done in an intimidating way where knowledge of the basics is assumed. We host regular sessions where both soft and technical skills such as preparing a resume, email etiquette and legal research are taught. You can find recordings of these sessions on our YouTube channel and other resources here.

Research

We believe research and advocacy are crucial components of any mission aimed at structural change. More importantly, there has not been much research done with respect to representation in the Indian legal field. CEDE conducts research focused on closing these gaps so that educated policy can be framed to remedy the current situation. We are currently working on a survey about the impact on marginalised students of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent implementation of online education. If you're a student during the pandemic, you can help us by filling our survey form here.

Why Representation Matters

CEDE Inaugural Lecture delivered by Justice DY Chandrachud on April 14th, 2021.

Our Team

Disha Wadekar is an advocate practicing in the Supreme Court. She has worked as an associate at the chambers of Sr. Adv. Indira Jaising on constitutional matters including the Sabarimala case and the Jarnail Singh case (reservation in promotions). Wadekar has also headed a legal resource center set up under a project by London School of Economics. Her work has involved representation in cases of campus discrimination, atrocities against Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and custodial torture. Wadekar has also represented victims of violence at Bhima Koregaon in 2018. She has previously worked as a Consultant Advocate for Project 39A at National Law University, Delhi, and Centre for Women's Development Studies, New Delhi.

Email: dmwadekar@gmail.com

Avinash Mathews is an advocate at the Supreme Court, working in the Chambers of Senior Advocate Krishnan Venugopal, previously having worked at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, Delhi and at the Chambers of Ninad Laud. A gold medallist at the Jindal Global Law School and an Economics Graduate from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, he has also interned at the Chambers of Justice UU Lalit (Judge, Supreme Court of India). While in law school he assisted with the preparation of arguments for the Money Bill aspect of the KS Puttuswamy v. Union of India (II) (Aadhaar) case. Avinash was a business analyst at a multinational consulting firm, before deciding to pursue a career in law in the hopes of creating lasting social change.

Email: 17jgls-amathews@jgu.edu.in

Fellows

Jaipal Singh Munda Fellow

Arsalan Ahmed is a law student at the Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University. He has an interest in Constitutional, Criminal, and Technology law and Public policy. He has previously worked with different litigation offices in Delhi at various forums.

H.J. Khandekar Fellow

Kundan Kumar Chaudhary is a law student at Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi. He has been as a Samta Fellow under Coro India, funded by the Azim Premji Foundation, for three years, working with Jodhpur's marginalised communities to improve their understanding of the Constitution, rights, and values. As a Founding Board Member of SocioLegalLiterary and Constitution Connect, he has held various positions, including heading a translation team that translates documents and research papers into various Indian languages. Currently, as an H.J. Khandekar fellow at CEDE, he is working to ensure the inclusion and participation of marginalised communities in legal education and employment.

Justice K. Ramaswamy Fellow

Deependra Sori is a law student. He is interested in Constitutional and Criminal Law.

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