Devanshu Sajlan, a judge by profession, is passionate about analyzing the interplay between law and the rights of marginalized groups in India. Officiating as a judge at Tis Hazari Courts since 2019, he has passed more than 200 judgments pertaining to diverse areas of law. His judgments dealing with contract law (non-compete clauses), defamation law, sexual crimes, and crimes against society have been reported by SCC Online, a leading law journal of India. He was also one of the first judges in New Delhi to record evidence through videoconferencing mode during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hailing from New Delhi, Devanshu studied law at National Law University, Delhi. He was awarded the Pandit Shri Girdhari Lal Salwan gold medal in 2014. After graduating, he started working at one of India’s leading corporate law firms, AZB & Partners, where he worked on multiple transactions with international institutions like the International Finance Corporation, American Tower Corporation, and Asian Development Bank. Thereafter, to pursue his passion for criminal litigation and human rights, he joined the chamber of Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Senior Advocate, and former Additional Solicitor General of India. Devanshu also joined the panel of Delhi Legal Services Authority in 2018 as an independent practitioner to help indigent litigants and undertrial prisoners.
As a Fulbright-Nehru Master’s fellow, Devanshu is studying the criminal justice courses dealing with issues of bail jurisprudence specifically faced by indigent prisoners. He feels this will enable him to find improved solutions to the plight of thousands of disenfranchised under-trial prisoners in India.