Gender justice

A graduate of Rajkot University,Upendra Baxi was drawn to law as he was “fascinated with representations of law in classical and modern literature”. He was the youngest law professor in India when he joined Delhi University in 1973. His writings questioned traditional notions of law at a time when,in his own words,“[though criticisms were aplenty,there were few critiques”. But he adds that “by the mid-1980s,many young scholars were imaginatively critiquing” our ideas of justice.

Upendra Baxi has written extensively on the Bhopal Gas tragedy,women’s rights,the war on terror,criminal law reform,corporate governance and international human rights,to name just a few areas. His research provided the intellectual anchor for the explosion of socio-economic rights by the courts in the 1980s. Asked what to look forward to after six decades of Constitutional interpretation,he responds: “Life begins at sixty”.

He was appointed vice-chancellor of Delhi University in 1990. Amidst a public debate over whether the legal scholars should be appointed judges of the Supreme Court,Upendra Baxi was widely rumoured to be that candidate. The move eventually fell through,and with it Baxi’s possible appointment.

The 71-year-old Baxi,now a professor emeritus at Warwick University,UK and Delhi University,is recuperating in Delhi after an eye surgery. He is characteristically upbeat,describing his illness with the same incision and wit that he usually reserves for court judgments. His daughter Pratiksha,who teaches at Jawaharlal Nehru University,says that what he misses most is that addiction of all lawyers and academics — being able to read.