Prof Srikrishna Deva Rao has been appointed as Vice-Chancellor of National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR), Hyderabad.
Writing to Bar & Bench on his new innings, Prof Rao said,
“I joined at the right and opportune time of celebrating the Silver Jubilee of NALSAR in 2022-2023 by consolidating, strengthening and expanding past 24 years of NALSAR’s achievements.
My priority areas are research and scholarship, internationalisation, development of new inter-disciplinary programs and to facilitate more engagement and involvement of alumni in re-branding NALSAR for the next 30 years."
Prof Rao is a Master of Philosophy in Law from National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bangalore in 1993 and a PhD in Human Rights from Delhi University in 2004. He was a Fulbright Nehru scholar.
With over 27 years of experience in academia, Prof Rao began his career as lecturer at Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. He has worked with leading NLUs like NLSIU, Bangalore; NALSAR, Hyderabad and Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), Gandhinagar in the past.
He was Vice-Chancellor of National Law University, Odisha for over 6 years before joining National Law University, Delhi as Vice-Chancellor in September 2020. He has also served as Director of School of Law, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Delhi for over 3 years.
His interest lies in the field of criminology. He is Chairman of the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in 2020 to review India's criminal law statutes.
He is currently a member of the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DLSLA).
He recently assisted the Union Ministry of External Affairs in preparing a report that will be presented at the 41st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council at Geneva on November 10.
Prof Rao was one of the candidates being considered by the Search Committee formed to find a replacement for Prof Faizan Mustafa, who stepped down after serving for two terms as NALSAR VC.
Even as the student body called for Prof Mustafa's re-appointment to the post, allegations surfaced that certain discrepancies took place during his ten-year term at the helm.