Saral Initiative

Simplifying laws must go beyond technical conventions. The SARAL Initiative develops a systematic approach to legal drafting. It transcends grammar and syntax-based solutions which exist in the Plain Language Movement. It also counters institutional and historical traditions of inaccessible drafting found in the Indian legal system.

The SARAL Initiative’s objective is to develop a principled set of guidelines to systemise the understanding of a well-drafted legal document.

SARAL Tools provide legislative drafters with instrument- agnostic principles and instrument- specific guidelines to streamline the drafting process to enable the creation of SARAL laws. By using SARAL Tools, the vision is to increase the comprehensibility of legal documents for both legal professionals and the general public.

We hope to revolutionise how all legal documents, contracts, and laws are drafted in India.

Reshaping the legal landscape by fostering collaborative stewardship of the SARAL Initiative via the SARAL Collective.
Change is not possible unless it is part of a movement. The SARAL Collective is envisaged as a hub of coordination amongst lawyers, students, universities, and the Government. These parties must play an active role in furthering the discussion on making laws in India comprehensible, developing an action plan, and building consensus.

Our Team

Aditya Prasanna
Bhattacharya
Senior Resident
Fellow
Aditya Prasanna
Bhattacharya

Senior Resident Fellow

Aditya is currently a Senior Resident Fellow in the Research Director's Office at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. He graduated from the NLSIU Bangalore in 2021 with a BA LLB (Hons). His areas of interest include constitutional law, civil procedure, and dispute resolution. He has academic publications on constitutional law, legislative drafting, and arbitration law in journals such as Statute Law Review and Arbitration International.

Aniruddh
Nigam
Senior Resident Fellow
Aniruddh
Nigam

Senior Resident Fellow

Aniruddh was a Senior Resident Fellow with the Legal Design and Regulation Team.

Arghya
Sengupta
Founder & Research Director
Arghya
Sengupta

Founder & Research Director

Arghya is the Founder and Research Director at Vidhi. His areas of specialisation are constitutional law and regulation of the digital economy. He has served on a number of government committees including the B.N. Srikrishna-led committee of experts on a data protection framework for India.

Kartavi
Satyarthi
Research Fellow
Kartavi
Satyarthi

Research Fellow

Kartavi is a research fellow working with the Legal Design and Regulation Team. She completed her B.Sc. LLB (Intellectual Property Hons.) from National Law University Jodhpur in 2018 and obtained her LLM degree from National University of Singapore in 2022. Prior to joining Vidhi, she also worked as a Legal Researcher at the Delhi High Court where she worked on matters ranging from service law and IPR disputes to constitutional law.

Lakshita
Handa
Research Fellow
Lakshita
Handa

Research Fellow

Lakshita is a Research Fellow at Vidhi, New Delhi working in the area of Legal Design and Regulation. Prior to joining Vidhi, Lakshita graduated with B.A.LLB. (Hons.) from the Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala in 2020 and obtained her LLM degree in international law from the University of Cambridge in 2021.

Namrata
Mukherjee
Senior Resident Fellow
Namrata
Mukherjee

Senior Resident Fellow

Namrata primarily handles engaged and commissioned projects from various ministries, statutory authorities and regulators by providing legal research and legislative drafting support. At Vidhi, she has worked with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Pragya
Singh
Senior Resident Fellow
Pragya
Singh

Senior Resident Fellow

Pragya is a Senior Resident Fellow working in the area of Legal Design and Regulation at Vidhi. Prior to joining Vidhi, she has worked as a Legal Assistant at the Law and Legislative Department of the Government of Chhattisgarh where her main work pertained to regulatory compliance and drafting of State rules and statutes. She also worked on policy research, inter-departmental disputes and government contracts.

Rakshita
Goyal
Research Fellow
Rakshita
Goyal

Research Fellow

Rakshita is a Research Fellow with the Legal Design and Regulation team. Rakshita graduated from National Law University, Jodhpur with a B.A., LL.B. (Hons.). Prior to joining Vidhi, she has worked at the Centre for Policy Research and PRS Legislative Research. Her research areas have involved federal water governance, and health, technology and environment laws.

Risika
Das
Development Associate
Risika
Das

Development Associate

Risika Das is a Development Associate with Vidhi. She has a Masters in Criminology, specializing in Security Management. She comes from a solid humanities background, having done her bachelors in Sociology from Miranda House (2019), with a strong interest in human rights, governance and a passion for research. She has gained analytical, and problem-solving skills while interning in organizations like Bureau of Police Research and Development and Central Industrial Security Force.

Sunetra
Ravindran
Senior Resident Fellow & Lead, Legal Design & Regulation
Sunetra
Ravindran

Senior Resident Fellow & Lead, Legal Design & Regulation

Sunetra is a Senior Resident Fellow and leads Vidhi's work on Legal Design and Regulation. She primarily handles engaged and commissioned projects from various ministries, statutory authorities and regulators, where she provides legal research and drafting support at various stages of law-making.

Yogini
Oke
Research Fellow
Yogini
Oke

Research Fellow

Yogini is a Research Fellow working in the area of Health and Environment. Yogini completed her B.A. LL. B. (Hons.) from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, after which she pursued the Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University. Prior to joining Vidhi, Yogini worked at the Centre for Policy Research on the subject of Urban Sanitation.

Mr. Jyoti Sagar
Mr. Jyoti Sagar
JSA
JSA
K&S Partners
K&S Partners

The SARAL Principles are fundamental pillars which shape the understanding of simplified legal drafting.
To gain insights into their practical application, explore our comprehensive SARAL Principles here.
The SARAL Checklist is a practical tool derived from the SARAL Principles. It is designed to be used by any legal drafter to ensure that their drafts comply with the principles of simplicity, accessibility, rationality and actionability at every stage of the drafting process.
Explore the SARAL Checklist here.