Jayna Kothari

Executive Director

jayna[dot]kothari[at]clpr[dot]org[dot]in

Jayna is a co-founder of CLPR. She is a Senior Advocate and practices in the Supreme Court of India. She graduated from University Law College with a B.A. LL.B degree and read the BCL at Oxford University. Jayna was awarded the Wrangler D.C. Pavate Fellowship in Cambridge University.

Jayna’s research and practice interests include constitutional law, gender and sexuality law, disability rights and discrimination law. She had argued in the Supreme Court in the recent constitutional challenges to Section 377 and adultery which were both decriminalized. She also argued the Independent Thought case in which the Supreme Court recognized child marital rape as a criminal offence. Her book, “The Future of Disability Law in India” was published in 2012 by Oxford University Press.

Publications

Blog

PUBLICATION | More Than a Room

July 3, 2026

In their article, Senior Advocate Jayna Kothari and Priya Chaudhary argue that gender-inclusive infrastructure is essential to ensuring women’s equal participation in the legal profession. Through the story of the Women’s Bar Room at the Karnataka High Court, they show how spaces that uphold dignity, safety, and belonging are integral to substantive equality.

The article builds on the recent order passed by the Supreme Court on June 19 in Sarika Tyagi & Ors v. Union of India, recognising the need for bar rooms and infrastructure for women lawyers.

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PUBLICATION | With Justice Mohana’s appointment, breaking the legal glass ceiling — and why the SC needs a gender quota

June 18, 2026

In this calls piece, CLPR Executive Director Jayna Kothari the need for structural measures, including a formal quota and possible constitutional changes for systemic change that would lead to a more inclusive higher judiciary.

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Amendments a serious setback for transgenders

March 25, 2026

The new amendments proposed to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019, which came…

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Karnataka High Court Women Lawyers’ Roundtable: Equality Within the Higher Judiciary

February 18, 2025

On November 28, 2024, CLPR organized a roundtable discussion in Bangalore with women lawyers practising in the Karnataka High Court focusing on women’s equality in the higher judiciary. The event bought together senior advocates, government pleaders and independent lawyers to examine barriers preventing women from attaining leadership positions within judiciary and legal institutions.

Addressing the Gender Gap in the Higher Judiciary in India: Roundtable with Women Lawyers | Chennai

February 5, 2025

The Roundtable was part of CLPR’s ongoing research on the gender gap in the higher judiciary in India. The Roundtable brought together senior women lawyers including women Senior Counsels and other women advocates from the Madras High Court.

CLPR | Trans Law Quarterly | Issue VI

June 28, 2022

This Pride Month, we are happy to present to you the VI Issue of our Trans Law Quarterly. In the past two years of the pandemic, we witnessed the tireless efforts of LGBTQIA+ activists, policymakers, litigants and judicial officers which resulted in timely court orders and policies safeguarding and advancing the rights of transgender persons. Putting together the quarterly has provided us a chance to reflect on how far we have come and how long the road ahead is.