About Rohin.
Rohin Bhatt is a queer, non-binary lawyer who practices in the Supreme Court. Their work has spanned not just activism inside the Courtroom but also outside it, along with writing extensively on issues of queer rights and human rights. Bhatt holds a Master’s degree in Bioethics from Harvard Medical School and a law degree from Gujarat National Law University.
In their legal work, they have been a key part of litigating teams of petitions on marriage equality that argued for equality of marriage for LGBTQ citizens. Bhatt has also been a part of the legal team of challenges to S. 6A of the Citizenship Act, Jallitkattu and the Power of the Supreme Court to grant divorces under Article 143. They have single-handedly managed to get the Supreme Court of India to install nine gender-neutral bathrooms on its premises for queer persons.
Their repeated advocacy for inclusivity with the Supreme Court has also led to the Supreme Court expanding the scope of its gender sensitisation committee to the gender and sexuality sensitisation committee. Bhatt’s advocacy for bringing the scope of Sexual Harassment policies of the Supreme Court to include queer people is also under active consideration by the Supreme Court. Bhatt is a vocal defender of constitutional freedoms and human rights, on public platforms, both digital and print, and in Court.
Apart from their legal work, their first book, Urban Elite v. Union of India: The Unfulfilled Constitutional Promise of Marriage (In) Equality is coming out in October of 2024 and will be published by Penguin Random House India. Bhatt’s writings have also appeared on multiple platforms like the Leaflet, The Wire Science, The Probe, and Live Law. They have also been writing for various national newspapers such as the Indian Express, Times of India and the Hindu. Bhatt is one of the foremost voices on queer rights and is frequently quoted on issues of queer rights by Indian Media including The Quint, NewsLaundary, the Print, Hindustan Times and International Media like the Guardian and the BBC World Radio Service.
Education
2021-2022
Master of Bioethics
Harvard Medical School
With the Master of Bioethics degree at HMS, most of my work focused on the situation of bioethics in India, and my master's thesis was titled "Death Be Not Proud: Death, Dignity and Pandemic" which made a case for the extension of dignity beyond death, in a departure from traditional philosophical views on dignity. I was also the class speaker at the graduation ceremony.
2016-21
B.Sc., LL.B (Hons.)
Gujarat National Law University
My undergraduate degree in law was at the intersection of science and law. During my undergraduate degree, I was a part of various research centers such as the GNLU Center for Technology and Law, the Center for Constitutional and Administrative Law. I headed committees such as the Model United Nations Society.