Legal Scholar Gautam Bhatia Awarded Infosys Prize 2026 In Humanities And Social Sciences
| The Infosys Prize jury described Bhatia as an “outstanding young legal scholar”.
Gautam Bhatia (Picture : www.infosysprize.org)
Constitutional lawyer and legal scholar Professor Gautam Bhatia has been awarded the Infosys Prize 2026 in the Humanities and Social Sciences category for his significant contributions to constitutional law and legal scholarship.
The Infosys Science Foundation announced the award on Thursday (November 12). The prize comprises a gold medal, a citation and a cash award of USD 100,000.
Bhatia is an Adjunct Professor at Jindal Global Law School and a Green Fellow at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney.
The Infosys Prize jury described Bhatia as an “outstanding young legal scholar”, highlighting his prolific academic output and his ability to use rigorous legal arguments to explore the possibilities of building a fair, equal and humane society.
"No other legal scholar in the Indian academy today has worked with such ceaseless passion and such energy and brilliance to criticize and improve upon the frameworks that define and frame the law in our country today," they stated.
His five books and numerous academic articles have been recognised as a formidable body of work that seeks to critically examine and improve India's legal and constitutional frameworks.
The jury noted that Bhatia's scholarship draws extensively from constitutional law, political theory, moral philosophy, sociology and macroeconomics. His work examines the relationship between law, state power, equality and the protection of individual rights.
The jury citation stated that Bhatia was the most dynamic legal scholar of the present generation, combining an extensive understanding of India's Constitution with knowledge of constitutional systems across the world, including those of Japan, Kenya and the Caribbean.
It also commended his mastery of scholarly literature across disciplines and his ability to maintain consistently high standards across his five books at an early stage of his career.
The jury expressed the expectation that the award would encourage Bhatia to make further contributions to legal scholarship.
The Humanities and Social Sciences jury was chaired by Professor Akeel Bilgrami who said : "My warmest congratulations to Gautam Bhatia on being awarded the Infosys Prize 2026 in Humanities and Social Sciences for his outstanding and prolific contributions to the theoretical construction of possibilities for revising and improving the legal and constitutional frameworks in India so as to provide a basis for a more humane and equitable society."
Bhatia's notable works include Offend, Shock, or Disturb: Free Speech Under the Indian Constitution, The Transformative Constitution: A Radical Biography in Nine Acts and Horizontal Rights: An Institutional Approach. His other books include Unsealed Covers: A Decade of the Constitution, The Courts, and The State and The Indian Constitution: A Conversation with Power.
He obtained his BA LLB degree from the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, and pursued legal studies at Oxford University and Yale University. He also holds a doctoral degree from Oxford.
The Infosys Prize, instituted in 2009 by the Infosys Science Foundation, recognises outstanding achievements in research and scholarship. From 2024, the award has focused on researchers below the age of 40.
The 2026 edition recognised six researchers across Economics, Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences and Physical Sciences. Each award carries a gold medal, citation and USD 100,000 prize money.