Legal scholar and Founder of IDIA and SpicyIP Blog, Professor Shamnad Basheer, 43, has passed away in a tragic accident in Karnataka today. The body could not be retrieved for many hours, and was taken out only after 7.45 pm on Thursday.
Born on 14 May 1976, Prof. Basheer graduated from India’s premier law school, the National Law School of India University, Bangalore and went on to do his post-graduate studies at the University of Oxford.
In 2010, Prof. Basheer founded Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education (IDIA), a non-profit organisation working in India which aims to empower underprivileged children by giving them access to quality legal education. It was initially started from West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences.
For his outstanding contributions to a broad range of legal issues and legal education, Prof. Basheer was awarded Infosys Prize 2014 for Humanities. He was also awarded with Legal Education Innovation Award 2016 by Society of Indian Law Firms in recognition of innovation and leadership in the development of Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA) and promoting legal careers among the under-privileged.
Prof. Basheer’s untimely demise is a big loss to the legal fraternity. A friend and mentor to many, Prof. Basheer will always be remembered for his humanitarian & visionary work.
Rest in peace, Professor.