Nihal Sahu
I’m a Research Fellow at Vidhi. Most of the time, I’m working on building the rule of law in India by producing research, advising government departments, and helping draft legislation. I think a lot about legal realism, software, and economics.
I’m most active on Twitter and Bluesky. The best way to reach me is by email at nihal.sahu (at) vidhilegalpolicy (dot) in.
Bookshelf +73 books
Personal favourites
I don't write a ton, but I'm quite proud of some of my writing.
Nice sentences.
short • people have multidimensional preference sets • we love the ability to make choices
inescapable cultural presence • philosophizing addiction • economic rationalization • withdrawal's grip • aesthetic beauty of smoke • solitary moments made social • borrowed lights and shared silences
There is an idea of India that's incredibly attractive to me, and I try to explain the feeling sometimes.
notes on the death of Elizabeth II • legal realism • rule of law in India • the English roots of constitutional traditions
the development of modern states • statecraft has a technology tree • parliamentary democracy • separation of powers • rule of law
the lower limit on dispute resolution time • ai judges • slowness as legitimacy • dworkin's dream
Things people have found helpful.
the core mechanism • you can practice behaviours, not just skills • identity is downstream of practice • what you end up practicing will often depend on your environment
Don’t do too many things at once. Do a few things, do them well, do them quickly. Finish things, one after the other, and move on.
There is an idea of India that's incredibly attractive to me, and I try to explain the feeling sometimes.
gain-of-function research on tax cuts
economists and lawyers • the limits of interpretation • what is Law™
Article 25 and the reform clause • protecting religious freedom while reforming practices • state control of Hindu temples • cognitive dissonance in Indian secularism • dynamic equilibrium between competing visions
These are personal essays. I also write a periodic letter to my friends on what's going on with my life.
literary earworms • finding identity • developing taste • rainbow kitten surprise • self-loathing
notes on my hometown
escaping formalism for substance • why legal training teaches you to avoid the real world • learning to form opinions under uncertainty • choosing outcomes over process • strong beliefs, loosely held
The uncategorisable.
short • people have multidimensional preference sets • we love the ability to make choices
inescapable cultural presence • philosophizing addiction • economic rationalization • withdrawal's grip • aesthetic beauty of smoke • solitary moments made social • borrowed lights and shared silences
in defense of paying people to do things • incentives solve principal-agent problems • motivated agents exist but are unevenly distributed and hard to identify
Research
I have sometimes produced research (>5k words of LaTeX instead of <5k words of Markdown).
Medical law is wildly interesting.
A series of reports coauthored at Vidhi.
Fields
Areas I'm actively investigating, with collected resources and notes on open questions.
India's low organ donation rates contribute to preventable deaths each year. Key information for doctors, patients, and policymakers is scattered across multiple websites or sometimes not published online at all.