It’s not very often that a junior scholar gets published in an esteemed peer-reviewed law journal. It’s even less common for that junior scholar to have their article cited favorably by a country’s highest court. Ajitesh Kir, LLM ’18, a Michigan Grotius Fellow, has managed to accomplish both career milestones before completing his SJD.
Kir’s article “India’s Goods and Services Tax: A Unique Experiment in Cooperative Federalism and a Constitutional Crisis in Waiting” was published in the Canadian Tax Journal in 2021. The article focuses on India’s recent Goods and Services Tax (GST)—one of the most significant reforms since India gained its independence in 1947—and its impacts on economic developments and issues.
Kir did not expect to hear the news that his article had been cited by the Supreme Court of India earlier this year and says it felt “surreal.”
“As a legal academic, to get published is the biggest boost to your career, but to get cited by the highest court in your country—and a favorable citation—it took some time to sink in,” Kir says.
