JUDGING PANEL

Here are some of the few names in our Judging Panel for ALB India Law Awards 2021. Our full list of judges will be revealed at the awards night.

Dr. Akhil Prasad
Director, Country Counsel India and Company Secretary, Boeing India

Dr. Akhil Prasad is Director, Country Counsel India and Company Secretary with Boeing India and is based at New Delhi. In past, he has held offices as Head of Legal and Company Secretary with Fidelity Worldwide Investment (2007 to 2013); Director India Legal Affairs & Company Secretary of The Walt Disney Company India (2005 to 2007); as Senior Attorney & Company Secretary of General Motors India (2003 to 2005); and as Assistant General Manager Legal with Electrolux Kelvinator (2000 to 2002). Prior to these assignments, he has also worked with the legal teams in Modicorp Group (including Modi Xerox and Graphtech India from 1995 to 2000). Akhil has about over 25 years’ experience as an In-house Counsel and has worked with legal teams spread across different countries.

Akhil is currently a member of the board of directors of entities in Boeing group (Boeing India Defense Private Limited and Boeing India Private Limited) and in the past has been on the board of directors of entities within the Fidelity group (Devonshire India Real Estate Holding, Eight Roads Investment Advisors, and FIL Research India). Akhil has worked across various industries in the area of legal, risk and compliance, taxation, regulatory and corporate affairs. Akhil has been nominated among the Included among Top General Counsels in India by Forbes India and Top 100 India In-house Counsel by Business World for 2020, Team Power List 2019 India by Legal 500; GC Power List 2018 India, Team Power List 2017 India by Legal 500, GC Power List 2016 India by Legal 500; 100 Legal Luminaries of India by Lexis Nexis; and among the Finest India In-house Counsels by Indian Corporate Counsel Association. 

Commander Anand Kumar
Deputy Director, National Maritime Foundation

Commander Anand Kumar is an alumnus of Naval Academy, Goa, and Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington. He was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 01 Jul 98. He specialises in Anti-Submarine Warfare. He is presently appointed as Deputy Director, National Maritime Foundation (NMF), New Delhi.

The officer holds four Master’s Degree: -
(i) Underwater Acoustics and Weapon Systems.
(ii) Defence and Strategic Studies.
(iii) MBA (HR).
(iv) MSc. Psychology.

In addition, he holds a Diploma in International Maritime Law from Gujarat National Law University (GNLU). He has undergone ‘Operation Analysis and Operations Research (OA & OR) course from the prestigious institute, IIT, Delhi. The Officer was selected to undergo a one-month course in International Law of Military Operations and Maritime Law (I-LOMO) at Defence Institute of International Legal Studies (DIILS), USA. He is currently a Doctoral scholar (PhD) at GNLU.

The Officer has presented papers at various international and national forums on: -
• International Maritime Public Law & related topics
• Historical development of the ‘Law of the Sea’
• Maritime Ocean governance issues
• Laws of Armed Conflict (LOAC) and International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
• Geneva Convention and International Human Rights Law (IHRL)
• IUU fishing
• Operational Art & Operational Planning Process (OPP)
• Leadership and its core attributes
• Anger management
• Workshops on Family Relationship and its dynamic nature

Anupam Sharan
Vice President, Legal and Compliance at Connesso

He is a senior attorney managing strategic legal, contractual and commercial programs globally for over $4 Billion spend per annum. He has extensive legal and contractual experience in drafting, negotiation, corporate, commercial including International law, M&A, government affairs, risk, governance, change, compliance and privacy matters. He seeks to channelize business and operational insights to provide thought leadership within the industry and contribute to shape laws, regulations and public policies. He brings experience across multiple industries such as consulting, banking and financial services, telecom, outsourcing, IT, ITES, steel, power and construction. He has good experience in working closely with Operations / stakeholder functions and helping build appreciation to the contractual obligations and commitments.

He is a regular speaker at various conferences, with many articles and white paper published to his name. He has dual qualification of Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering (B.E.) and Bachelor’s in Legislative Law (LL.B.) with Master’s in Business and IPR Law (LL.M) added with various certifications. He also serves as the India Council Board member at IACCM (International Association for Contract and commercial Management), USA. He is also a certified Director from IOD (institute of Directors).

Ashish Chandra
Associate General Counsel, WhatsApp

Ashish is the Associate General Counsel of WhatsApp and leads the legal, regulatory and litigation affairs of its communication and payments business in India. He also advises Facebook & Instagram to build their e-commerce and e-payments business in India. Ashish is handling various litigations before the Supreme Court and various High Courts on UPI Payments, privacy, encryption & traceability, OTT regulations, content blocking etc. In the past, he has worked with various large Indian and US companies like Netflix, eBay, Reliance Jio & Snapdeal. 

Over last 20 years, Ashish has contributed to the growth of Internet business, related regulations, and jurisprudence in India. He has structured approx. US$8 billion in VC / PE funding (including the recent investment of $5.7 billion by Facebook in Jio), acquired about 20 businesses, and forged techno-commercial tie-ups valuing billions in tech and internet space. Ashish has represented large corporations and industry bodies before various regulators and parliamentarians for shaping up laws and policies on eCommerce, digital payments, telecom, and data privacy. 

Capt Ashwani K. Jhingan
Advocate: Mumbai High Court

Advocate (Capt) Ashwani K. Jhingan is a Master Mariner, Extra Master (the highest marine professional qualification), Law graduate (L.L.B.) from 'A' grade K.C. Law College, University of Mumbai, Masters Degree in Financial Management from one of the top 10 prestigious Business Management Institutes of India, Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, University of Mumbai. He possesses over 30 years' experience in a wide gamut of functional areas, with significant expertise in the areas of Start up Ventures. He has over 15 years of sea sailing experience with command on various types of vessels as the Captain.

Chief highlights of his career have been a long nearly 13 years tenure with the Tata Group Company, in various ascending capacities to the level of Vice President, which included start up operations for the agency of one of the top 10 International Shipping and Logistics players in the World. He headed the commercial organization on "All India Basis" capturing significant market shares through concerted efforts in Marketing and Strategy. He was a Director in one of the subsidiary companies, as well. Awarded "Glory of India Award", 2020-21 by Indian Achievers Forum (www.iafindia.com) in recognition of outstanding professional achievement & contribution in Nation Building.

Admitted as a "Maritime Expert" in a prestigious "All India" organisation "Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA)" based in New Delhi and conferred the permanent status of "Fellow of ICA" on 20 Feb 2017.

Badrinath Durvasula
Managing Director, ESSAR Capital Advisory, Mumbai, India

Mr. Badrinath Durvasula is currently the Managing Director, ESSAR Capital Advisory. He was previously the Vice President & General Counsel at Hindustan Construction Company. He was also a Senior Vice President & Head Legal for Adani Group a $16 Billion conglomerate, with world-wide interests in Mining, Power generation and transmission, Private Ports, Trading in global commodities. His current role involves M&A, International Contracting & Contract Management, Litigation& Arbitration in multiple geographies. Prior to joining Adani, he is a known face as the Legal Head of L&T, which is into Infrastructure management, Oil & Gas Projects, Defense Production, Power and Mining. He also had the experience of working with United Phosphorous, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy’s Labs and General Insurance Corporation of India. He carries with him over 29 years of rich experience in Mergers & Acquisitions, International Contracting, Contract Management, Strategy, Compliance, Arbitration and Litigation. 

He travelled extensively in Europe and SE Asia due to the M&A activity he is involved in, all over the world on Legal & Financial due diligence, firming up transaction documents, long term supply agreements and ancillary agreements. He also attended in a number of legal matters in Australia, USA, GCC Nations and the Supreme Court of India. His niche areas are: International Contracting, joint venture formation, production sharing contracts & Intellectual Property.Justice Dr. Bharat Bhushan Parsoon, is a Former Judge of Punjab & Haryana High Court, Chandigarh and now designated Senior Advocate of Supreme Court of India.  With four doctorates in his fold (Law, Management, Computer Science, Mass Communication), he has served as a judge, over 35 years. He has to his credit innumerable research papers and book reviews. 

Justice Dr. Bharat Bhushan Parsoon
Former Judge of Punjab & Haryana High Court

In his illustrious career, he has adjudicated on nearly every area of the law and is considered a master of corporate & private; company & public, commercial and personal, constitutional and taxation laws alike. He is a Life Member of the Indian Institute of Law, New Delhi, Life Member of Indian Institute of Criminology, Chennai, Fellow of Indian Council of Arbitration, New Delhi, Resource person for National Judicial Academy, Bhopal as also for Delhi Judicial Academy and Chandigarh Judicial Academy, to name a few. 

A luminary, adjudicator, lawyer, strategic planner, tactical manager, academician, mentor, visionary; he has also scripted DNA of change, development and progress reaching zenith in whichsoever field he traversed. He is often referred to as a human encyclopedia. As on date he is legal consultant to many enterprises, companies and joint ventures. Hospitality, Pharmaceutical, Reality, Power & Engineering sectors etc. are on his consultancy catalogue.

Divya Kumat
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Company Secretary, Datamatics

Divya Kumat is the EVP-Chief Legal Officer & Company Secretary at Datamatics for more than 15 years. She leads all legal and secretarial initiatives for more than 30  group companies in India and overseas and is a key player in all in-organic initiatives of the group like joint venture collaborations, mergers, acquisitions, and amalgamation in India and overseas. She is credited with formulating and enforcing several legally binding policies and frameworks including the Contract Management Policy, Insider Trading Policy, Whistle-Blower policy, and Investor Grievance policy, to name a few. The legal team has successfully secured various copyrights, trademarks and service mark registrations thereby enhancing the company’s IPR wealth.

Divya brings with her over 23 years of rich and diverse experience, having held prominent legal and secretarial positions for leading corporations. Prior to joining Datamatics, she was the Legal Head at Computer Sciences Corporation (India).

Divya holds a dual Bachelor's Degree in Commerce (Honors) and Law (LLB). As a Gold Medalist in LLM, her final thesis presentation was on the subject of International Arbitration. She is a fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (FCS) and a merit holder in ICSA, London. Recently, she has completed certification course on Corporate Governance.

Dr. Lalit Bhasin
President, Society of Indian Law Firms
Immediate Past President, The Bar Association of India 
Chairman Chartered Institute of Arbitration (CIArb)- India
Chairman CII National Task Force on Legal Services

Dr. Lalit Bhasin started his law practice in 1962 and has developed Bhasin & Co. as one of the largest law Firms in North India. His areas of specialisation include Employment & Labour Laws, Corporate Law (Formation of Joint Venture Companies, Foreign Collaborations, Amalgamations, Mergers, Acquisitions, Disinvestment); Laws relating to Information Technology; Contract and Conveyancing; Constitutional Law; Banking and Finance; Consumer Protection Laws; Disputes relating to Foreign Investment e.g. Shareholders Agreements, Collaboration Agreements, Agency and Distribution Agreements, Technology Transfer Agreements and Dispute Resolution Practice.
He was awarded Honorary Membership of the IBA in Melbourne in 1994 for outstanding service to the legal profession. He was awarded the Plaque of Honour by the Prime Minister of India in 2002 for outstanding contribution to the Rule of Law. In 2007, the President of India presented the National Law Day Award to Lalit Bhasin for "Outstanding Contribution to the Development of the Legal Profession in India and for his deep involvement and engagement in the maintenance of the highest standards at the Bar".
Recently he has been conferred the Degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) Honoris Causa by University of Rajasthan.
 

Jayadeep Balakrishnan
Assistant Vice President - Legal, Brookprop Management Services Pvt Ltd.

Has over 20 years of work experience handling corporate legal and compliance functions of various reputed and leading national and multinational companies. He is currently working as Assistant Vice President - Legal with Brookprop Management Services Pvt Ltd. Prior to joining Brookprop, he had worked as Group Head – Legal and Secretarial and Director of Travel Food Services Pvt Ltd and also with Landmark Group, METRO Cash & Carry, Future Group, Café Coffee day etc. He has completed LLM in International Law and MBA in Personnel & Marketing.

John Dewar
Partner, Milbank

John Dewar is a partner in the London office of Milbank LLP and a member of the firm’s Global Project, Energy and Infrastructure Finance Group. John is widely recognised as a leading global project finance lawyer and has built an extremely broad practice and outstanding reputation for advising on the most innovative and significant ‘market-first’ transactions around the world. His practice focuses on advising parties in the development and financing of oil and gas, natural resources, independent power, telecommunications, satellite and other infrastructure projects. Further to this, John has advised on inbound financing and M&A into India for the last 20 years with a particular focus on energy, infrastructure, and telecoms within this region. He has also advised on multi-billion dollar debt reorganisations and has expertise in multi-sourced financings, including those involving multilateral and export credit agencies and Islamic institutions. John is widely recognised as a leading individual in his field by a number of journals, among them: Chamber UK (which designated him among the first tier of Project Finance lawyers in the UK); Chambers Global; The Legal 500; and the Who’s Who of Project Finance.

Garima Nahar
General Counsel and Chief Compliance, ESG and Anti- Corruption Officer, J.C. Flowers Asset Reconstruction and Eight Capital

Garima is the General Counsel and Chief Compliance, ESG and Anti- Corruption Officer at J.C. Flowers Asset Reconstruction Private Limited and Eight Capital. Garima is a legal professional having over seventeen years of diverse experience in various banking and financial transactions. Prior to joining Eight Capital, she worked as the General Counsel at IIFL Finance. She was instrumental in setting up the legal team at IIFL focusing on NBFC business and strategy.

Garima was a Member on the ESG Committee of the Board of IIFL Finance and acted as Chief ESG Coordinator and Chief Anti-Corruption Officer. She was instrumental to create Environmental, Social and Governance framework and policies at IIFL and played a key role in delivering additional value from E&S improvements perspective across different portfolio at IIFL.

Garima also worked with ICICI Bank at Corporate Legal Advisory as Senior Group Head and with Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP at New York. She has extensively worked and focused on capital markets, corporate lending and restructuring, treasury, derivatives, structured financial products, wholesale and retail products and on regulatory practice. She is a gold medalist, holding B.A.LL.B (Hons.) degree from National Law Institute University, Bhopal.
 

Manjaree Chowdhary
Executive Director and General Counsel, Maruti Suzuki India

Manjaree Chowdhary is Executive Director and General Counsel of Maruti Suzuki India, a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation Japan and the leading car manufacturer in India employing over 34,000 people. Leading a team of 30+ professionals, Manjaree works closely with the Board, the CEO and the Leadership team to provide legal and compliance support in a dynamic regulatory and risk environment.

A master’s in law from the University of London, Manjaree made a mid-career shift from academics to law. She began her legal career at a leading Indian law firm, moving in-house to General Electric before joining Maruti Suzuki. A successful professional with over two decades of experience, she has performed different roles in General Electric with increasing responsibility and complexity. Her body of work is well rounded, spanning across diverse businesses, domestic and international regimes, covering a rich spectrum of legal, regulatory and compliance practice. She has successfully leveraged her functional and business understanding to lead industry initiatives and support Government relations work, notable among them being the formulation of a “Voluntary Code of Ethics” adopted by NATHEALTH, the National Healthcare Federation of India.

Manjaree has been recognized by the Indian Corporate Counsel Association in its first edition of “Trailblazers – India’s Finest In-house Counsels” in 2016, has featured in the India “Top 100 Powerful Women in Law” in 2017, awarded the “Outstanding Woman Leadership Achievement Award” at the CXO and General Counsels Leadership Summit and Excellence Awards in February, 2018, recognized as one of the twenty-five General Counsels for their contribution to the Indian corporate legal sector and felicitated at the Indo-UK Law Society Summit at the House of Lords in London in November 2018, felicitated by Legal Era as a Top woman in Law in 2019 and as the General Counsel of the Year (Female) in 2020. Most recently in 2021, she was honored as the BW Legal World’s Top 100 General Counsel Club of Achievers for excellence in law.
 

Neera Sharma
Director, Chief Executive officer and General Counsel, Sistema India 

Neera Sharma  is a whole time Director, Chief Executive officer and General Counsel for Sistema India Entities and is based at Gurgaon, India. She has over 23 years of experience as a General Counsel and  has worked in Leading Business Houses. She  has been recognized as top General Counsel by Forbes india 2020 and has been awarded as a Most Promising Women Leader 2021 by Economic times powered by Famina. She is  UCLA Alumni, Law Graduate from Panjab University. She has completed her  MBA Finance from Amity Business School Noida and One Year Course  in Cyber Laws and internet related laws from Indian Institute of Law. She is a Diploma holder  in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations and Masters in Psychology. Neera is founder of Sukh setu foundation – a step to spread awareness about Autism and  work towards the acceptance of differently abled kids & adults with respect, advocating their rights &  inclusion in schools and corporates. 

Nitin Mittal
General Counsel – India Sub/Pacific Region, Region Systems & Services and Company Secretary
Signify Innovations India 

Nitin presently is part of the Signify Legal Function (Growth Markets Team) as General Counsel – India Sub/Pacific Region, Region Systems & Services and Company Secretary.
Nitin has over the last 20 years handled functions covering Legal, Compliance, Governance, Insurance and Real Estate, while leading teams on mergers/ demergers/Corporate restructuring, acquisitions and integration of acquired companies, civil and criminal litigations and high-stake arbitrations. He has set up new plants, restructuring of company operations, established contract management processes, implemented global mandated compliance programs and managed complex projects with regional and global implications. 
• He has been recognized as a leading General counsel by ICCA, CCAI.
• He was listed in the GC Powerlist 2018 for India by Legal 500( top 100 GC's in India).
• Named by ICCA with forewords from the Ministry of Law & Justice, India as amongst " India's finest in-house Counsels" at a function on 6th Oct, 2017.
• On 10th Nov, 17- Philips Lighting in-house legal team has been selected for “The Legal 500 GC Powerlist India: Teams” which is an international recognition.

Parveen Mahtani
Chief Legal Officer, Mahindra Lifespace Developers

Parveen Mahtani is a gold medallist in law. 

Parveen is presently Chief Legal Officer of Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd. 

She has been honoured as "Woman Leader in a Male Dominated Industry 2019". She was featured by the Indian Corporate Counsel Association in their book titled “India’s Finest  In-House Counsels” published in 2016. She has also been acknowledged as one of “Asia’s Top 25 In-House Counsels” by the Asian Legal Business.  She has also been featured as top in-house legal teams by Legal 500 UK: GC Powerlist: India (2017 and 2019)

She has also been honoured as “Top 25 General Counsels in India” in 2018 by the ICCA in London. She has been featured in the featured in the book “Legal Luminaries” published by the ICCA and the book “ Constellations” The Shining stars in the Legal Fraternity” in 2019.

Pawan Singhal
Cheif Legal Officer and General Counsel, Ather Energy

Pawan Singhal is presently associated with Ather Energy, an intelligent EV mobility company, as ‘Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel’. Pawan is a 
•    Commerce Graduate from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi, India
•    Associate Member of Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of India (AICMA)
•    Fellow Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (FCS)
•    Law Graduate (LLB) from University of Delhi, India

He has rich and versatile experience of more than two decades with MNCs, International Joint Ventures and Indian corporate houses and listed entities. He has been associated with corporates like 3M, AstraZeneca, Max Bupa, Intel, MMTC and others in a wide spectrum of industries including Insurance, Pharma, Healthcare, IT, Financial Services, Consumer Goods, Global Trading etc. as well as areas such as Legal, Finance, Regulatory, Compliance, Corporate Governance, Risk Management etc. He has been in the leadership and General Counsel role for more than 15 years. His last stint was with 3M as ‘Executive Director and General Counsel’ for India region.
In addition, he has practiced on the corporate side as Associate Partner with a leading law firm - Dua Associates in New Delhi for more than 5 years, driving matters related to foreign investments, brown and green field projects, corporate restructuring, mergers, strategic alliances, corporate laws, IP, anti-trust, HR, and regulatory aspects. 
Pawan has the privilege of being named in (a) ‘GC Power List’ – India (2016) released by ‘Legal 500’ and (b) ‘India’s Finest In-House Counsels’ at ‘ICCA Annual International Summit’ in 2016. 

Rajiv Choubey
Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary, ACC Limited

Rajiv Choubey is the Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary and Executive Committee member of ACC Limited, part of the Swiss major, LafargeHolcim. He is an alumnus of Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, Indian Law Institute and Indian Society of International Law, New Delhi and the Institute of Company Secretaries (ICSI). 

Rajiv has more than two decades of experience in manufacturing as well as IT Company. Prior to joining ACC, he was the General Counsel of HCL Infosystems Ltd., Vice President - Legal & CS of Vedanta Limited and had a brief stint at Maruti Suzuki, Hindustan Tin etc. Rajiv heads the legal function and advised management on entire gamut of business activities – from Mining, Environment, Competition law, Commercial & Industrial laws, M&A, as well as on GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance)  In past he has also handled listing in US /NYSE during his stint at Sterlite/Vedanta. Rajiv and his team have been recognized by various forums/ bodies, including ICCA, CCAI, Indian National Bar Association, Legal 500, IDEX, IOD as one of the leading in-house counsels/ teams which he has lead. 

Rohit Kumar
Global General Counsel, UPL Limited

Rohit is the Global General Counsel of UPL Limited, one of the largest crop protection products company in the world with revenues in excess of US$5 billion. He is based out of UPL’s corporate head office in Mumbai. Rohit leads a team of more than 40 in-house lawyers with more than 50% of his team being based in U.S.A., Europe and LATAM. Rohit overseeing all aspects of legal work relating to the group.
Rohit is a law graduate (2002 batch) from Symbiosis Law College, Pune, India and has also completed leadership courses from Harvard Law School and University of Melbourne. 
Prior to joining UPL, Rohit worked at the Melbourne office of Herbert Smith Freehills, a large global law firm. He was part of HSF’s corporate team and advised on several international M&A. Before that, Rohit spent close to 4 years working with the New Delhi office of J. Sagar Associate, a leading Indian law firm.
 

Shardul Thacker
Senior Partner, Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe

Mr. Shardul Thacker, Senior Partner of M/s. Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe offers clients over 40 years of experience. His clients include MNCs and Indian companies across industries: Banking, Insurance, Shipping, Steel, Subsea Engineering & Marine services, Offshore Construction, Infrastructure (LNG Ports, Oil & Gas), Transport, Trade and Logistics.
Shardul’s clients include acquirers, sellers and targets in M&A cross-border transactions to whom he advises on competition and tax issues as well as red-flag issues such as pollution, product liability, non-insurable risks and the like.

In commercial practice he handles contracts of sale and purchase of goods and services, long term take or pay, supply chain contracts and advises on industry regulatory issues.
Throughout his 40 years of practice Shardul regularly advises on various aspects of insurance laws in India including marine, LOP, material damage. He advices EPC contractors relating to offshore construction and subsea projects. He handles litigation and arbitration. Shardul has an in-depth commercial understanding which equips him to negotiate and seamlessly support his corporate, insurance, offshore construction and banking practice offering solution-based and well-rounded advice. His acumen in strategizing and managing litigation risks for clients has facilitated resolving disputes with the least possible adverse effect to clients business.

Lloyd’s List ranked him “Top 10 Lawyers”-“HIGHLY regarded for his work in the LNG sector, particularly for interesting & highly geared finance deals in relation to infrastructure projects, energy, ports & ships". Shardul has received AsiaLaw leading lawyers award for dispute resolution between 2003-2016. Recognised by Global Arbitration Review as a prominent lawyer in arbitration in India. Feedback received from clients by Chambers describes Shardul being regarded as a "reliable" and "very commercially-minded lawyer," and "very well experienced, thorough, listens and is dedicated." One source describes him as "smart, reliable, professional and always a gentleman. Ranked-Band 1-Chambers: Shipping & Maritime 2011-2021. Also ranked in Banking & Finance 2011- 2021.Ranked-Who’s Who Legal-Banking, Finance, Shipping 2017-2021.

Contributed India Sections:
• International Arbitration Review 2021.
• Transport Finance Law Review 2021
• Maritime Law-Kluwer 2021
• Chambers Guide- Shipping & Insurance
• International Arbitration Review
• Cross border Security, Norton Rose & Butterworth

Shujath Bin Ali
General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited

Shujath Bin Ali is currently working as General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer and leading the Global Legal & Compliance function of Global Private Equity firm KKR backed Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited.

Shujath Bin Ali served as  as Senior Director- Legal, Risk Management & Company Secretary and India Compliance Officer PAREXEL International –India. He was responsible for providing strategic corporate legal advice and operational legal support  for India Operations and was a member of PAREXEL India Leadership Team.
Before PAREXEL Shujath served as Senior Legal Counsel & Corporate Secretary for International Paper-India and was providing leadership oversight on Legal, Compliance & Corporate Governance matters. 

Prior to International Paper-India, Shujath served for 9 years as Associate Vice President-Legal & Corporate Secretary for Deloitte US-India offices and was heading the Legal & Corporate affairs function. He has overall 16 years’ experience in the areas of Governance, Compliance, Risk Management, Corporate & Commercial Laws, Employment laws & Litigation.

He worked in diverse industries like Pharma, Information Technology, and Professional Services & Manufacturing with an experience of 20 years and exposure to multi cultured work environment.

Sonal Sharma
Head of Legal – NBS India & NGSC Hyderabad – Novartis Healthcare Private Limited

Sonal is currently the Head of Legal for NBS India and NGSC Hyderabad Site operations. She is advising on their shared function legal matters and is part of NBS leadership in India. Prior to Novartis, Sonal worked with Atos as their General Counsel for Atos and its subsidiary companies in India and Deputy General Counsel for APAC.. She was responsible for overseeing Atos’ legal, corporate & commercial, compliance and litigation matters of various companies. Sonal has expertise in commercial laws, HR laws, corporate laws and managing complex forensic investigations related to compliances in India.  Sonal has also spearheaded many M&A transactions within Atos in India and has been instrumental in devising IP strategy for their key clients.  Her diverse areas of practice include structuring strategic business contracts, intellectual property rights (IPR), global compliance design and audits, legal due diligence, mergers and acquisitions, and arbitration & litigation management. Before joining Atos, Sonal headed the commercial contract portfolio in Persistent Systems and was responsible for their US, Europe & India geographies. Sonal have spearheaded the ISO 27001 process for legal department at Persistent Systems, which became the first legal department in India to be ISO certified.  Sonal is contributing with her professional experience since 19 years in field of law and compliance.  Sonal holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Science (Statistics and Economics, (University of Mumbai) and Law from India’s prestigious Government Law College (GLC), Mumbai. Sonal is also a winner of the General Counsel of the Year – Female Category, by IDEX Legal Awards 2016.

Surabhi Agarwal
Founder & Senior Partner - Parikh & Parikh Agarwal and Partners 

Formerly Legal Director of the South East Asia Pacific region and member of global legal leadership team of a fortune 500 MNC, Surabhi Agarwal is the Senior Founding Partner of Parikh & Parikh, Agarwal and Partners, a full-service law firm with a niche litigation practice. The firms’ partners have expertise in handling high profile matters in the Supreme Court of India and various high courts, while Surabhi brings corporate expertise and significant international experience into the mix. She was adjudged one of the best General Counsels in South East Asia in 2019 by the Legal 500. In her previous role, as a member of the global legal leadership team, Surabhi contributed to the global vision and strategy for the legal function of the Company and spearheaded a number of global initiatives. In the region, Surabhi was at the forefront of several critical transactions and the team reached several milestones during her stint. The legal team led by her was adjudged one of the best teams in South East Asia in 2018 and then in 2020. 

Vikash Jain
Group General Counsel, Vedanta 

Mr. Vikash Jain is a solution driven leader, who is a Lawyer, Company Secretary and Management Graduate by qualification. He has a rich and varied experience of 25+ years in the disciplines of Strategic Business Advisory, Corporate / Commercial laws, Secretarial, Mergers & Acquisitions, Investor Relations, Taxation (Direct & Indirect), Foreign Collaborations & Joint Ventures, Public Issues (both Indian and Overseas), Finance, Insurance etc. Mr. Jain is currently the Group General Counsel of Vedanta Limited and is responsible for the entire legal affairs of the group encompassing over $13bn in turnover and $40bn in gross assets. His experience ranges over varied industries including oil & gas, metals and mining, auto components etc. In his prior roles, he has held leadership positions with Jubilant Bhartia Group, Hindustan Oil Exploration, Endurance, Transocean etc.   

Mr. Jain is a highly result oriented person who focuses on measurable objectives with strong ability to think strategically and link back actions to the corporate goals. He has demonstrated wisdom in making decisions based on analysis of the data and tools available with a view to achieving what is most appropriate, reasonable, timely and realistic. He believes in nurturing and developing young talent as future industry and thought leaders.

Vikrant Panchananda
Advocate, Supreme Court of India

Vikrant Pachnanda is an Advocate-on-Record in the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India specializing in Dispute Resolution and Aviation practices at Pachnanda Law Offices with offices in New Delhi and Chandigarh. He has been practising across various forums such as the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts, Tribunals and District Courts across the country, doing both international and domestic arbitrations as well as advising clients on aviation law related issues since 2011. Additionally he has also been working as an Associate with Agarwal Law Associates, a boutique Dispute Resolution Law Firm in India since 2014. Vikrant upon completion of high school in 2006, pursued an integrated degree in law and arts from Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), Gandhinagar focusing on international investment arbitration and aviation law. He is the Founder and Managing Editor of India Law Journal (www.indialawjournal.org), which he founded as a law student in 2008, with a focus on covering legal issues currently being debated in the Indian Parliament. He was also one of the Founders and Student Managing Editors of the GNLU Journal for Law, Development and Politics. Post graduating from GNLU in 2011, Vikrant joined Luthra & Luthra Law Offices in Delhi as an Associate where he advised both Indian and international clients on a broad range of legal issues involving mergers and acquisitions, defence procurement, corporate criminal liability, anti-bribery compliance and funds. Additionally, he was also part of the Knowledge Management team of the firm. In 2012, he joined the chambers of Mr. Najmi Waziri, Chief Counsel for the Delhi Government during the subsequent year and trained under him till Mr. Waziri's elevation as an Hon'ble Judge of the Delhi High Court in April 2013. 

and many more...