Rate My Professor Mrinal Satish

Dr. Mrinal Satish is a Professor of Law and Dean - Research at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, specializing in criminal law. He earned his B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) from NLSIU in 2001, followed by LL.M. degrees from NLSIU and Yale Law School, and a J.S.D. from Yale Law School. His doctoral dissertation examined sentencing policy and practice, with a focus on rape sentencing in India. Satish's career spans multiple institutions: he began as faculty at NLSIU from 2002-2006 and 2009-2010, served as Assistant Professor at the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, and was Professor of Law at National Law University, Delhi, where he directed the Centre for Constitutional Law, Policy, and Governance from 2014 to 2018 and chaired the Delhi Judicial Academy. His accolades include the Inlaks Scholarship for his Yale LL.M. in 2006, the Madhu Bhasin Noble Student Award in 2001, and the Mahatma Gandhi National Law Teaching Fellowship in 2002.

Satish's research interests include sentencing, gender and the law, medical jurisprudence, empirical analysis of law, reproductive justice, excessive undertrial and pre-trial detention, and the criminal justice system's impact on vulnerable groups. Notable publications encompass his book Discretion, Discrimination and the Rule of Law: Reforming Rape Sentencing in India (Cambridge University Press, 2016), co-authored works such as Securing Reproductive Justice in India: A Casebook (Center for Reproductive Rights, 2019) and Fair Trial Manual for Judges & Magistrates (2nd ed., 2019), and articles like "Testing Chastity, Evidencing Rape: Impact of Medical Jurisprudence on Rape Adjudication in India" (Economic and Political Weekly, 2014). He holds influential roles as former member of the Supreme Court of India’s Gender Sensitization and Internal Complaints Committee (2017-2021), nominated member of the National Legal Services Authority (2023-2025), articles editor of the Indian Law Review, and amicus curiae in Delhi High Court cases. Satish leads projects on pre-trial processes, preventive detention in Karnataka, vulnerable witness systems, and reproductive health rights, while teaching courses including Criminal Law I, Criminal Law II, and Sexual Violence and the Law.