Based on research conducted by India Business Law Journal, the following are the winners and highly commended in-house counsel of IBLJ In-house Counsel Awards 2021. The awards are split into individual and team awards.
Click here to read the editorial report that accompanies the awards.
Biographies were provided and written by the in-house counsel themselves and have not been independently verified.
Tech Mahindra LtdTeam leader: Vineet Vij
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DaimlerTeam leader: Balwant Rawat |
InterGlobe Aviation LtdTeam leader: Priya Mehra |
Spicejet LtdTeam leader: Chandan Sand
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Yes Bank LtdTeam leader: Sanjay Nambiar
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Larsen & Toubro ConstructionTeam leader: Amba Prasad |
Yum! Brands IndiaTeam leader: Navdeep Choudhary
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GAIL India LtdTeam leader: Subir Bikas Mitra |
Sequoia Capital IndiaTeam leader: Siddharth Rao Sequoia Capital India is a leading venture capital fund with investments in India and South East Asia. The legal team at Sequoia India focuses on advising Sequoia Capital India funds on investment and exit transactions in the India and South East Asia region. The team also dedicates time to guiding portfolio companies on commercial-legal matters and dispute resolution. The team is internally recognised as a strong business enabler, and manages end-to-end transaction work on investments, restructurings and exits. |
WockhardtTeam leader: Debolina Partap
‘Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” – Vince Lombardi The legal team of Wockhardt, spearheaded under the guidance of Mrs Debolina Partap, is the bedrock of the organisation. Occupying the pedestal as one of the most acclaimed legal teams in the healthcare industry, the legal team functions as a robust unit comprising of strong-willed and like-minded individuals, each adept in their work and possessing a significant and commendable adroitness. The team’s distinguishing feature lies in its individuality and the laudable teamwork, which has enabled the team to navigate the most complex situations and proficiently adapt to adverse circumstances with expertise and while maintaining unwavering levels of quality in their work. We at Wockhardt believe in promoting the growth of the company through development at individual levels, and the legal team is a model example of the same, where the potential of each member is harnessed and optimally utilised, thus contributing towards the evolution of the individual as well as the company, as a whole. |
Fleetguard Filters Private LtdTeam leader: Rohan Turior
Rohan Turior, holds a B Tech in electrical and electronics engineering and is a registered Indian patent attorney. He holds advanced certification in innovation methodologies such as TRIZ and TOC. Rohan is a seasoned intellectual property management leader and a well-versed technocrat with more than 15 years of rich and insightful experience in innovation, IP protection, problem solving, patent circumvention and technology management. Rohan has the distinct advantage of having worked on both the sides of the table, that is, as an in-house counsel for multiple Indian MNC’s as well as for a Fortune 100 MNC, and for one of the largest law firms of Asia. In addition to this he has more than 10 patents to his name (three of which have been commercialised). He holds a very strong grip on “innovation as a science and methodology”. This distinct know how and experience gives him a definite edge in understanding the IP and innovation needs of any industry from a business stand point. Technical fields Electronics, computer science, electrical, instrumentation, mechanical, automobile, renewable energy, bio-medical electronics and instrumentation, biomechanics, engine engineering and filtration technology. Education
Certifications
Membership and associations
Languages
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Indiamart Intermesh LtdTeam leader: Manoj Bhargava
“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” Maneuvering and leading the team with his two decades of experience is Mr. Manoj Bhargava, the senior vice president, company secretary and compliance officer, who oversees and guides the team in managing the overall legal, secretarial, regulatory compliance function for the company, and its group companies. Mr. Bhargava has been bearing the torch of leadership for Indiamart’s legal and secretarial function for the past four years, and has been working with dedication to achieve the best results for the company. The team is primarily divided into two verticals – legal and secretarial. With regards to the legal vertical, Danish Ali Khan is the assistant vice president and has been working with the company for the entirety of his career, which spans 15 years. Presently he is responsible for managing matters related to advocacy, government relations and intellectual property rights disputes. Neeraj Arora, the assistant manager, joined the company in 2017 and holds an overall experience of five years in the field of law. At present, he is responsible for handling the litigation and dispute resolution aspect of the legal function. Jestine Jacob is responsible for handling corporate, transactional and fintech matters, is a senior executive at the company. He has an overall working experience of two years and has been with the company ever since. Aditi Jajodia, who has recently joined the company as an executive, has chosen to make her baby steps in the field of law at Indiamart. Vasudha Bagri is a manager at the company and is primarily responsible for managing all the compliances pertaining to the Companies Act and Listing Regulations for Indiamart. She has a work experience of 10 years and has joined the company in June 2021. Senior executive Bharat Sachdev is primarily responsible for managing the compliances of group companies of Indiamart. He has worked at the company for over 3 years. Furthermore, Aastha Tandon and Shivani Mathur are currently associated with Indiamart as management trainees and assist the whole team on all corporate assignments and play an active role in the monitoring and reporting of compliances at the organizational level. |
Samsung R&D India – BangaloreTeam leader: Lakshminarayanan Ramachandran
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InfosysTeam leader: Inderpreet Sawhney
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Tech Mahindra LtdTeam leader: Vineet Vij
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Dream SportsTeam leader: Amol Apte
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Emaar India LtdTeam leader: Sanjeev Sachdeva
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Bharti EnterprisesTeam leader: Vidyut Malhotra Gulati |
Xiaomi IndiaTeam leader: Harshitha Thammaiah A young team of a 7-year-old company, Xiaomi, consists of nine team members with Harshitha Thammaiah as the head of the department and Aswin Surendran as the Assistant General Counsel. The team has three major verticals: (a) sales and marketing and international business, (b) internet services, financial services and data protection, and (c) support business functions, compliance and dispute resolution. The sales and international business vertical is headed by Debapratim Ray and he is supported by Swathi AP. The focussed practice areas for this vertical include commercial laws, consumer laws, competition law, sales of goods, law of contract, FDI policies, manufacturing policies and schemes, GFR, policies relating to electronics, intermediary laws, etc. The internet services, financial services and data protection vertical is led by Nayan Jain and she is supported by Teresala Paul. The focussed practice areas include intermediary laws, data privacy and fintech related laws and regulations. The support business, compliance and dispute resolution vertical is led by Aswin Surendran, who is supported by Jyothsana Sridhar and Mohammed Sait. The focussed practice areas include consumer laws, IP laws – patent, trade mark and copyright, labour and employment, customs and telecom laws. All the non-core and administrative matters are taken care of by Sachin Keriyappa. |
