The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (‘ASSOCHAM’) organized BHARAT Legal Conclave 2023 and National Legal Excellence Awards 2023 on 20-10-2023. The Conclave brought together legal minds for engaging in thought-provoking discussions, sharing experiences, and collectively working towards strengthening the legal framework in India, aiming at shaping the future of the Indian legal landscape and fostering a more just and efficient legal system.
Eminent Guests at BHARAT Legal Conclave 2023
The event witnessed Mr. Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of Law and Justice, as the Chief Guest. Mr. Suresh Chandra, Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission was the Special Guest for the day.
In addition, Ms. Preeti Malhotra, Chairperson, ASSOCHAM National Council for Corporate Affairs, Company Law and Corporate Governance; Past President, ICSI; & Chairman, Smart Bharat Group, Mr. Rajinder Kumar, Co- Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on Legal Affairs and Regulatory Reforms, & Managing Partner, Kumar Law Associates and Mr. Hemant Sahai, Immediate Past Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council for Legal Affairs and Regulatory Reforms; & Founding Partner, HSA Advocates were the Conclave Patrons. Mr Sumeet Malik, Director EBC Group, also marked his presence as the Jury member.
While praising the name of the event as ‘BHARAT Legal Conclave’, Mr. Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of Law and Justice batted for India becoming a hub for arbitration, while citing Singapore, Hong Cong cases involving Indian disputes as well as lawyers arguing such cases. He further mentioned the recent Mediation Act, some of whose provisions are already in force, and the attempts to improve the Criminal Justice System through Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Evidence Act, and other names, stating that the said prevailing laws “do not match with our independence”.
He also highlighted the issue of pendency of cases, use of technology to address the same, and proposed to sit together and initiate a discussion on the same.
On the other hand, Mr. Suresh Chandra enlightened the audience with the scheme and 4 components of the Indian legal system, being the basic principles and values enshrined in the Constitution of India, rights and obligations contained in various statutes, organization structure of laws and legal personnel.
National Legal Excellence Awards 2023
Categorisation based on law firms, Individual Practitioners, In-house and academia led the Jury members to handpick the winners along with notable firms/individuals, as depicted below.
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Category A – Law Firm of the Year |
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Particulars |
Awardees |
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IPR |
Winner – LexOrbis |
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Competition Law |
Winner – Trilegal |
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Taxation |
Winner – S&A Law Offices |
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Notable – BMR Legal Advocates |
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Financial Regulatory |
Winner – AK & Partners |
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IBC |
Winner – S&A Law Offices |
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Litigation |
Winner – MCO Legals |
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Notable – S&A Law Offices |
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Notable – RRG & Associates |
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ADR |
Winner – S&A Law Offices |
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Real Estate |
Winner – Intygrat Law Offices LLP |
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Insurance |
Winner – RNS Associates |
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Energy |
Winner – Alaya Legal Advocates |
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Infrastructure |
Winner – Nanavati & Co. |
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Category B: Individual Practitioners – Corporate (In-house) & Law Firms |
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Individual Practitioners – Corporate (In house) |
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General Counsel of the Year |
Winner – Mr. Vineet Vij, Tech Mahindra |
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Notable – Ms. Sandhya Tolat, Aarti Industries Limited |
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Notable – Mr. Manish Kharbanda, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd |
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Woman General Counsel of the Year |
Winner – Ms. Sandhya Tolat, Aarti Industries Limited |
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Notable – Ms. Shilpa Malhotra, National Payments Corporation of India |
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Notable – Ms. Smitha Chandrashekaraiah, Harman International (India) Pvt. Ltd. |
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Notable – Ms. Shalinee Kulshreshtha, Dentsu Aegis Network India Pvt. Ltd. |
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Recognized Law Practitioners (Age under 30) |
Ms. Ekta Gupta, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd |
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Recognized Law Practitioners (Age under 40) |
Mr. Srijit Mukherjee, HCLTech |
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Dr. Richa Pathak Purohit, Larsen and Toubro Limited |
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Ms. Sandhya Tolat, Aarti Industries Limited |
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Mr. Chetan Chopra, TruKKer Technologies |
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Mr. Saurabh Dubey, Statkraft India Pvt. Ltd |
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Ms. Satabdee Mohanty, Thermo Fisher Scientific India |
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Law Firm |
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Partner of the Year |
Winner – Mr. Siddharth Srivastava, Khaitan & Co. |
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Notable – Mr. Amit Meharia, MCO Legals (Meharia & Company) |
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Notable – Adv. Rajesh Rai, RR Legal Partners LLP |
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Woman Lawyer of the Year |
Winner – Ms. Rupinder Malik, JSA |
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Winner – Ms. Nisha Kaur, Trilegal |
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Notable – Ms. Kavitha Vijay, IC Universal Legal |
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Notable – Ms. Ranjana Roy Gawai, RRG & Associates |
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Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year |
Winner – Mr. Bishwajit Dubey, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas |
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Notable – Ms. Gunita Pahwa, S&A Law Offices |
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Recognized Law Practitioners (Age under 40) |
Mr. Kartik Jain, JSA |
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Ms. Kritika Krishnamurthy, AK & Partners |
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Ms. Sameena Chatrapathy, IC Universal Legal |
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Mr. Abhinav Kumar, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas |
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Ms. Minal Madan, SLP Law Firm |
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Dr. Vijay Awana, Central Juris |
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Advocate Mr. Manik Ahluwalia |
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Ms. Shraddha Singh Chauhan, Anand and Anand Advocates |
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Ms. Henna Vadhera, Khaitan & Co. |
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Category C — For In-house |
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Legal Compliance Team of the Year |
Winner – Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited |
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Notable – DCM Shriram Ltd. |
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In-House Legal Team of the Year – Defence & Aerospace |
Winner – Thales Group |
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Inhouse Legal Team of the Year – Energy and Resources |
Winner – HPCL |
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Inhouse Legal Team of the Year – Innovation and Technology |
Winner – Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. |
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Inhouse Legal Team of the Year — FMCG |
Winner – Marico India Limited |
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Inhouse Legal Team of the Year — Airport |
Notable – Delhi International Airport Ltd |
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Inhouse Legal Team of the Year — Diversified Conglomerate |
Notable – Vedanta Limited |
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Notable – Daimler India Commercial Vehicles |
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Legal Start-up of the Year |
The Global General Counsel |
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Techno Legal Service Provider of the Year |
Complinity Technologies Private Limited |
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NGO/ NPO/ Social Enterprise of the Year |
Apoorvaa Foundation |
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Category E – Academia |
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Law Academy of the Year |
Law prep |
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Law Institution of the Year |
School of Law, Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science (HITS) |
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Academic Excellence Award |
Winner – Prof. (Dr.) Anuradha Chadha, University School of Law, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab |
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Notable – Ms. Nikita Koradia Shah, Assistant Professor, Institute of Law, Nirma University |
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Legal Icon of the Year |
Mr. Manoj Kumar Singh, S&A Law Offices |
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Jury Special Honor for Lifetime Achievement Award |
Mr. Lalit Bhasin |
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Jury Special Honor for Significant Contribution in the Legal Profession |
Mrss. Gayatri Luthra w/o Mr. Rajiv Luthra received the award |
Jury Members
- Justice Dipak Misra, Former Chief Justice of India
- Mr. Suresh Chandra, Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission, Govt. of India; & Former Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, Govt. of India
- Ms. Preeti Malhotra, Chairperson, Company Law and Corporate Governance; Past President, ICSI; & Chairman, Smart Bharat Group
- Mr. Hemant Sahai, Founding Partner, HSA Advocates
- Prof. (Dr.) Ranbir Singh, Vice Chancellor, National Law University, Delhi
- Mr. Mohit Mathur, Senior Advocate and President, Delhi High Court Bar Association (‘DHCBA’)
- Mr. Sumeet Malik, Director, EBC Group of Companies, Publishers of SCC and SCC Online
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Dr. Sanjeev Gemawat, Group General Counsel, Vedanta Group
