Dr. Sidharth Luthra, Senior Advocate and former MPhil student at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, was appointed for the position of K.L. Arora Chair Professor in Criminal Law at the National Law University, Delhi, in July 2025. Created by Justice D.P. Wadhwa, Former Judge, Supreme Court, the Chair was created to facilitate teaching, research, discourse, and advocacy on key issues of criminal law in India.
As the chair professor, Dr. Luthra organised the Inaugural Lecture of the K.L. Arora Lecture Series, which was delivered by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, Former Judge, Supreme Court. Apart from the lecture series, he has several projects in the pipeline, some of which are as follows:
-
Comprehensive audit of Tihar Jail to assess status of the living conditions and civil rights of the inmates
-
Review of matrimonial offences to find the percentage of cases which reach the High Courts, in order to make a case for reclassification of matrimonial offences
-
Review of probation and plea bargaining in India’s justice system
With these ventures, Dr. Luthra aims to promote the value of research and evidence-based policy.