Basheer, who recently resigned from NUJS Kolkata where he was professor of intellectual property (IP), commented by email: “Since IDIA has now grown quite rapidly, we figured that if we are to move to phase II of our growth, it will be critical to have it professionally managed and run. And this is why we put out the call for a CEO.

The charity asked for applications for the post, which will be remunerated, on its website on Tuesday.

Responding to whether he would step away from IDIA with the hire of a CEO, Basheer said: “I will of course be spending close to 50 per cent of my time on IDIA, but more in terms of generating new ideas for IDIA and for kickstarting fresh programmes and initiatives to widen our base and create a deeper impact on society.”

“There is one programme in particular that I am excited about which we will kickstart soon,” he added.

IDIA would create teams, he said, comprising of “interested students” from law schools, including IDIA volunteers and members of the legal aid cells, and visit the local communities of scholars who have joined a law school via the IDIA programme.

That team would identify problems faced by that community and examine how the law can help, if at all, while also sensitising the community to its legal rights and entitlements, he explained in an email.

Aside from benefitting underprivileged communities, Basheer said that the programme would improve the clinical legal education at law schools and allow IDIA scholars to become “proficient lawyers and community leaders”.

Former Luthra & Luthra partner Madhurima Mukherjee recently joined IDIA part-time in a strategic role to encourage the “corporatisation” of the organisation.