Ashok Agrwaal is a lawyer based in Delhi and practicing since 1983. He has worked in a variety of fields, civil and criminal, at the trial court level as well as in the appellate and constitutional courts. He has worked extensively on issues of justice and accountability, namely the issue of custodial violence and enforced disappearances in Punjab and Kashmir. He co-authored a book on enforced disappearances in Punjab, published by South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR) and conducted a study of the effectiveness of the writ of habeas corpus in Jammu and Kashmir. A monograph based on this research was published by SAFHR. He has published several papers on topics related to law, justice, human rights, etc. Ashok is currently the Treasurer of the DaJI.
Jacob Nellithanam is a farmers’ rights activist based in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, currently and works for protecting and promoting indigenous knowledge and farming systems. He has been doing this for the last twenty five years and has worked in western M. P. before shifting to Bilaspur. Jacob is associated with several national and international efforts at promoting organic farming systems. He is the current Treasurer of the organisation.
Anjuman Ara Begum a human rights activist, gender rights activist, freelance journalist from Assam. She is the co-founder of Rights to Nationality and Citizenship Network. She is also a member of the Calcutta Research Group with a PhD in Law from Guwahati University her interests lie in human rights, social justice and gender issues.
She specializes in advocacy, legal education, journalism, public policy and has extensively researched and documented issues of human rights and gender-based violence in armed conflict situations in Northeast India.
She specializes in advocacy, legal education, journalism, public policy and has extensively researched and documented issues of human rights and gender-based violence in armed conflict situations in Northeast India.
Dr. Avinash Kumar is a civil society activist whose work bridges academic scholarship with policy and advocacy. His role as Trustee. He holds PhD and MPhil Degrees in Modern History from CHS, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was a Charles Wallace post-doctoral Fellow at SOAS, University of London. He has taught at various institutions including Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University and Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode.
Over past two decades, he has held senior leadership roles at Amnesty International, WaterAid, and Oxfam. He is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Equity Studies.
Over past two decades, he has held senior leadership roles at Amnesty International, WaterAid, and Oxfam. He is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Equity Studies.
Dipak Dholakia is a veteran communicator and lifelong activist who brings a rare depth of experience and humility to his role as Interim Chairperson. A retired professional from the News Services Division of All India Radio, Dipak has spent decades at the intersection of media and social advocacy. From his student days to his leadership with ICAN, his work has always been rooted in voicing the grievances of others. Though he hails from Bhuj, his long-standing presence in Delhi has seen him tackle complex issues of citizenship and human rights.
Ms. Ujjaini Chatterji is an accomplished international human rights lawyer and independent advocate who has dedicated her career to strategic feminist litigation and the protection of disenfranchised communities. Her role as Trustee in organization now.
After graduating with an LLM in Human Rights Law from the University of Nottingham in 2017 under prestigious scholarships, she built an extensive international profile working on business and human rights in Syria and public interest litigation in Bangladesh before returning to India in 2019.
In India, her client-centric advocacy has profoundly impacted thousands; she secured the release of over 200 environmental protesters, provided vital pandemic-era humanitarian relief to hundreds of displaced workers, and co-founded the Lingering Shadows Initiative in 2022 to document stories and provide legal aid to 1,500 families across multiple states. A formidable presence in India's highest courts, Chatterji has successfully argued high-profile cases alongside senior advocates—such as setting personal liberty precedents for political prisoner Dr. Varavara Rao—and has secured landmark Supreme Court orders defending the human dignity of over 40,000 Rohingya refugees. Currently litigating critical constitutional matters including challenges to the Citizenship Amendment Act, custodial deaths, and statelessness in Assam, her systemic impact earned her the Centre for Law and Policy Research’s Constitution Defenders Fellowship in 2024 and the "Your Nottingham Alumni Award" in 2026, while her expertise continues to be regularly featured in major global publications like The Guardian and Voice of America.
After graduating with an LLM in Human Rights Law from the University of Nottingham in 2017 under prestigious scholarships, she built an extensive international profile working on business and human rights in Syria and public interest litigation in Bangladesh before returning to India in 2019.
In India, her client-centric advocacy has profoundly impacted thousands; she secured the release of over 200 environmental protesters, provided vital pandemic-era humanitarian relief to hundreds of displaced workers, and co-founded the Lingering Shadows Initiative in 2022 to document stories and provide legal aid to 1,500 families across multiple states. A formidable presence in India's highest courts, Chatterji has successfully argued high-profile cases alongside senior advocates—such as setting personal liberty precedents for political prisoner Dr. Varavara Rao—and has secured landmark Supreme Court orders defending the human dignity of over 40,000 Rohingya refugees. Currently litigating critical constitutional matters including challenges to the Citizenship Amendment Act, custodial deaths, and statelessness in Assam, her systemic impact earned her the Centre for Law and Policy Research’s Constitution Defenders Fellowship in 2024 and the "Your Nottingham Alumni Award" in 2026, while her expertise continues to be regularly featured in major global publications like The Guardian and Voice of America.