IBLJ In-house Counsel Awards 2026

We celebrate India’s legal department leaders and senior in-house counsel, along with their in-house teams

adefining theme among the winners of the In-house Counsel Awards this year has been the emergence of senior in-house counsel assisting boards of companies to make well-informed and confident decisions while enhancing corporate governance standards at companies. This in turn helps board members build trust with investors.

Neeta Sanghavi, general counsel at brokerage firm CLSA India, for example, serves as a trusted adviser to the board and senior leadership imbuing legal insight into commercial decisions. She actively engages regulators, stock exchanges and industry bodies, keeping an eye out for regulatory shifts.

General counsel have also worked to raise the profile of the legal department as a whole. Ananya Sharma, group general counsel at JSW Group, which wins the In-House Legal Team of the Year award, has positioned the team as the legal engine behind the conglomerate’s strategic acquisitions, joint ventures and high-value investments.

The counsel of senior legal leaders becomes all the more valuable when a company is navigating troubled waters; the general counsel should steady the ship when facing heightened stakeholder expectations and greater scrutiny from regulators.

Senior leaders have also worked to bring about the convergence of law, technology and business strategy as legal teams embrace AI, contract lifecycle management systems, compliance automation tools and digital governance platforms to improve efficiency and respond more effectively to business demands.

The legal team at textile manufacturer Himatsingka has implemented a digitised compliance management process to ensure their organisation stays up to date with the latest regulations and internal standards. The compliance is tracked on a real-time basis across office locations and manufacturing units, and reported to the board and audit committee.

Counsel are also managing increasingly complex international legal landscapes, aligning legal strategy with global business priorities while navigating diverse regulatory regimes.

Navroze Palekar, the vice president and global head of legal, compliance and procurement of Indian MNC and technology company Cyient, leads a global team of 22 counsel and 21 procurement professionals across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Meanwhile, Rahul Dhawan, the head of legal-India, oversees legal affairs for ANZ Bank’s India branches and its group capability centres.

Collectively, this year’s winners demonstrate how in-house counsel have become indispensable partners in corporate success.

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JSW Group
Team leader: Ananya Sharma
Group General Counsel

Headed by group general counsel Ananya Sharma and about 90 legal professionals, the JSW Group legal team supports a diversified industrial conglomerate. The team advises on major insolvency matters, and chief among these was JSW Steel’s contested acquisition of Bhushan Power and Steel Limited (BPSL), which received Supreme Court approval last September.

The legal team had to contend with significant legal complexities arising from the acquisition of BPSL under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The dispute involved multiple rounds of litigation and carried substantial legal, financial and operational implications for the group. This required the team to navigate a highly complex environment and work closely with senior management, external counsel, lenders, regulators and other stakeholders.

The team also played a key role in formation of the 50:50 joint venture between Japan’s JFE Steel and JSW to operate and expand the business of BPSL, which was valued at about INR315 billion (USD3.3 billion).

Among its other key work, the team supported JSW Paints’ INR90 billion acquisition of a 62% stake in Akzo Nobel India, involving complex regulatory and financing workstreams. The transaction required the legal team to work with diverse stakeholders, handle tight deadlines and align various regulatory and transaction workstreams while mitigating execution risks.

The team also worked on financing transactions, infrastructure projects and high-value commercial contracts, and strengthened contract management systems, document standardisation and data protection readiness while delivering significant stamp duty savings across the group.

These efforts reinforced the legal department’s role as a strategic partner in supporting growth, resilience and risk management.

As chief legal officer of Hindalco Industries, VR Shankar leads a 31-member legal team supporting one of India’s largest industrial enterprises. His responsibilities span mining, manufacturing, governance, acquisitions, sanctions compliance, intellectual property, ESG initiatives and litigation.

During the year, Shankar protected a USD3 billion export book after the London Metal Exchange tightened its responsible sourcing protocols. Non-compliance would have risked delisting registered brands and putting metal exports at stake. In response, Shankar and his team built a supplier due diligence and traceability toolkit safeguarding the company’s full export portfolio.

He spearheaded the introduction of a proprietary AI-enabled compliance operating system to supersede a previous manual and fragmented procedures. This covered more than 60,000 statutory obligations across mining, manufacturing, environmental and labour law over several locations. To receive data and acceptance from other departments, Shankar co-developed the system with them; it is now used across the company.

Shankar and his team also rolled out a cloud-based contract lifecycle platform with clause banks, service level agreement (SLA) dashboards and milestone alerts across 5,000-plus contracts. This resulted in 30% faster negotiation cycles and 95% turnaround compliance.

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Financial services and fintech

India’s financial services and fintech sectors continue to operate at the intersection of regulatory change, digital transformation and intense competitive pressure.

As group chief legal counsel and chief ethics officer of Axis Bank, Damini Marwah supports business units across corporate banking, wholesale banking, retail operations, treasury, stressed assets and compliance. Marwah has helped strengthen the legal department’s role as a strategic adviser to the wider organisation and leads one of India’s most substantial in-house legal functions at one of the country’s largest financial entities.

She has extensive transactional and litigation experience involving complex structured financing transactions, strategic investments and acquisitions, commercial disputes, enforcement actions, criminal proceedings and regulatory investigations.

Abir Lal Dey, a CMS IndusLaw partner in Mumbai, describes Marwah as “a seasoned legal leader with over two decades of experience and deep expertise in banking and financial services law”.

As head of legal for India at multinational bank ANZ, Rahul Dhawan manages legal risk for the bank’s India branches as well as GCC entities while overseeing governance, service contracts, legal compliance and data protection initiatives. He leads his team spread across Bengaluru and Mumbai, and ensures reliable and commercially practical advice to business stakeholders.

Neeta Sanghavi, general counsel at brokerage firm CLSA India, oversees legal, compliance and governance functions covering brokerage, investment banking, research and knowledge-process outsourcing businesses. Among her significant work during the year, Sanghavi successfully managed an Enforcement Directorate summons arising from a structured finance transaction.

She oversaw audits by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange that resulted in no adverse observations, in addition to supporting strategic expansion initiatives in GIFT City. Her team also facilitated CLSA India’s first qualified institutional placement marketing exercise into the US, demonstrating a blend of regulatory sophistication and commercial execution.

Aditya Bhargava, a banking and finance partner at Trilegal in Mumbai, describes Sanghavi as “doggedly dedicated”, praising her management of regulatory relationships, her “solution-oriented approach, which aligns compliance with business outcomes”, and her commitment to developing the next generation of legal talent.

As general counsel and ESG lead at investment company UTI Alternatives, Abhay Roy operates at the crossroads of legal, governance and investment strategy. He handles legal and regulatory matters across four investment funds and has overseen growth in assets under management from below INR5 billion (USD52 million) to more than INR20 billion.

Among his work in the past year, Roy introduced initiatives such as quarterly filings with National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL), India’s information utility under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, with the goal of strengthening the company’s standing as a financial creditor.

External advisers highlight his commercial instincts as one of his defining qualities. Aditya Vikram Dua, partner and head of financial services at SNG & Partners in Mumbai, describes Roy as “commercially astute and solutions-oriented”, praising his ability to combine strong legal expertise with sound business judgement.

“Abhay consistently demonstrates exceptional understanding of the legal, regulatory and commercial dynamics impacting private credit, structured investments and alternative asset management businesses,” says Dua.

Technology, telecoms and digital

Legal challenges confronting technology-driven businesses have become increasingly complex as organisations expand into new markets, deploy AI, manage growing volumes of data, and navigate heightened regulatory scrutiny.

One of the winners in the team award categories, Cyient’s legal and compliance team comprises 22 legal professionals and operates through a collaborative model covering contracts, compliance, disputes, M&A, intellectual property and corporate governance.

In the past year, the team played a central role in several significant initiatives for the global engineering and technology solutions company. These included complex acquisitions of Kinetic Technologies and Tao Digital, along with implementation of the Complyent compliance platform across 16 countries, and further enhancement of contracting efficiency through SimpliContract.

In addition to supporting patent activity and dispute resolution efforts, helping embed governance and risk awareness throughout the business, the team also strengthened due diligence with incorporation of a Denied Party Screening tool and developing the IRIS incident reporting platform.

Navroze Palekar, the vice president and global head of legal, compliance, procurement and insurance at Cyient, is also recognised in the awards. He oversees a broad international mandate spanning legal, compliance and procurement functions across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

Palekar has led efforts to strengthen legal operations and governance through technology-driven initiatives including the management of more than 3,000 annual contracts through SimpliContract, implementation of compliance programmes across 16 jurisdictions, and the development of IRIS, an internal incident reporting platform.

Palekar says his initiatives have helped position legal as an innovation-focused business partner capable of supporting the company’s global growth strategy.

External advisers point to his ability to combine legal expertise with commercial judgement. Riddima Sharma, a partner at ADP Law Offices in Noida, describes Palekar as a leader who “goes beyond conventional legal advisory and functions as a strategic business partner”.

She highlights his management of intellectual property disputes and compliance matters. “During the trademark infringement matters that we handled together in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, involving unauthorised use of Cyient’s trademarks, [Navroze] demonstrated a strong command over legal strategy while ensuring alignment with Cyient’s broader commercial and reputational objectives,” says Sharma.

The Tech Mahindra legal team wins a team award in the Technology & telecoms category. The team, headed by general counsel and chief legal officer Vineet Vij, comprises more than 100 lawyers across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, India and Asia-Pacific. The team supports a broad range of activities including M&A, strategic partnerships, global customer contracts and complex litigation.

During the year, it advised on significant acquisitions, divestments and international collaborations while negotiating business agreements with a cumulative value exceeding USD10 billion. At the same time, it managed more than 500 litigation and dispute matters while continuing to strengthen risk management, cross-border capabilities and regulatory advisory functions.

Hiranmai Rallabandi, general counsel and chief governance officer at WeWork India Management, has been responsible for shaping governance, compliance and risk management at WeWork India during a period of significant corporate transformation. She leads legal, governance, ethics, compliance, enterprise risk and company secretarial functions.

Her most visible achievement during the year was guiding the company through its IPO journey, while simultaneously strengthening the governance, disclosure and compliance frameworks required of a listed business. Alongside these initiatives, she introduced technology-enabled legal operations, centralised repositories, anti-corruption frameworks, ESG programmes and data privacy readiness measures that have helped position legal as a strategic business function.

Energy, infrastructure and industrial

India’s energy, infrastructure and industrial sectors continue to be defined by large-scale investment, ambitious expansion plans and increasing regulatory complexity.

As head of corporate legal at Adani Group, Malav Deliwala oversees legal matters across one of India’s most diversified business groups spanning energy, infrastructure, ports, airports, mining and real estate. In the past year, he played a key role in several of the group’s most significant strategic initiatives, including the acquisitions of Jaypee Group and Karanja Terminal & Logistics, while also helping navigate legal and regulatory matters arising from the Dharavi redevelopment project.

Alongside these transactions, he has championed AI-enabled legal transformation, standardisation initiatives and operational improvements designed to position the legal function as a more efficient and technology-enabled strategic adviser to the business.

Armin Pardiwala, a corporate partner at HSA Advocates in Mumbai, points to Deliwala’s ability to manage complex and high-profile matters. “He handles matters with sincerity and dedication. He was instrumental in Adani Group acquiring Jayprakash Associates (Jaypee) through NCLT and NCLAT proceedings, as well as Adani group’s acquisition of GVK Power,” says Pardiwala.

Project financing in the renewable energy sector frequently involves highly complex documentation, multiple stakeholders and significant regulatory oversight. Vidhu Kapila, senior general manager – legal at Greenko, one of the world’s leading energy transition and decarbonisation solutions, demonstrates how a lean legal function can successfully manage such demands.

Working with just one supporting lawyer, she led Greenko’s legal work on financing transactions worth about INR113 billion (USD1.19 billion) across 63 special purpose vehicles, while also independently handling the restructuring of existing loan facilities worth about INR107 billion to a company acquired by Greenko. Her role required co-ordination among lenders, regulators and business stakeholders while ensuring timely completion of critical financing initiatives.

Jitin Sadana is head of legal and company secretary at listed agrochemical company Dhanuka Agritech. His responsibilities extend across litigation, intellectual property, governance, compliance and strategic transactions.

Over the course of his career, he has developed expertise in handling complex legal matters before various judicial and regulatory forums. In the past year, he secured a significant victory before Delhi High Court, in DAL v Union of India, a matter that posed critical regulatory and business implications for the company and the industry at large.

A key focus area for the past year for Sadana and his eight-member team was to protect the company’s intellectual property portfolio by obtaining injunctions and favourable orders from Delhi High Court and district courts. One of these actions included obtaining an interim injunction against a company that was illegally selling Dhanuka’s products through online channels.

Deeksha Manchanda, a competition partner at Chandhiok & Mahajan in New Delhi, describes Sadana as “an exceptionally level-headed and commercial leader who represents the peak of modern corporate counsel”. She adds that his understanding of law, finance and corporate governance enables him to provide practical business solutions in high-pressure situations.

Receiving the Rising Star award in the Energy & natural resources category is Monika Tyagi, senior manager – legal at Vikram Solar, who manages a team of three lawyers operating across the full spectrum of the company’s legal functions.

During the year, she successfully managed both offensive and defensive warranty disputes through strategic negotiation, avoiding litigation while safeguarding commercial relationships. She delivered measurable savings by challenging inflated claims and renegotiating unfavourable contract terms. Tyagi also streamlined legal processes and developed standardised contract templates and playbooks for manufacturing agreements, reducing turnaround time and minimising risk.

Her work earned praise from external advisers. Abhimanyu Chopra, a prominent disputes partner at AZB & Partners in New Delhi, says Tyagi navigates both contentious and advisory matters while maintaining a clear focus on broader business and reputational considerations.

“What makes Monika a genuine rising legal star is not merely the diversity of her experience across litigation, arbitration and corporate advisory, but the confidence and ownership with which she handles high-pressure situations and strategic legal issues,” says Chopra.

EDEN Renewables India general counsel Prateek Mohanty’s work spans project development, financing, operations and regulatory matters within a rapidly evolving industry. By anticipating legal and regulatory risks at an early stage and providing commercially focused solutions, Mohanty has played an important role in helping the business execute projects efficiently.

Kanika Chugh, managing partner at SKV Law Offices in New Delhi, says: “A key strength of Mr Mohanty lies in his command over the nuances of the renewable energy landscape, including policy developments, power procurement structures and stakeholder engagements. He has consistently demonstrated sound judgement in managing high-stakes negotiations and in addressing challenges arising from regulatory uncertainties, thereby safeguarding the organisation’s interests while facilitating growth.”

Manufacturing, consumer and retail

Manufacturing and consumer-facing businesses are navigating a more complex landscape of regulation, supply chains, intellectual property and governance. In this regard, Priyam Singhvi, general counsel at elevator manufacturer Schindler India, oversees a broad remit covering legal, compliance, data privacy and company secretarial matters for India and the South Asian region.

Singhvi has focused on a stronger compliance-driven organisational culture and achieved first place globally in the company’s annual compliance training programme by training more than 5,000 employees across India.

She led crisis management and advised the leadership team during critical situations such as internal investigations, employment matters, customer disputes, contractual conflicts, business continuity challenges and reputational risk events.

Singhvi successfully represented the company in an anti-dumping investigation by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies, which helped the organisation avoid penalties and business disruption.

Hormuz Mehta, a disputes partner at JSA in Mumbai, highlights Singhvi’s ability, saying: “Priyam has vast experience in all legal matters and is excellent in managing each matter with attention to detail. She has a small team yet effectively manages all matters, be it in litigation or contracts, with pinpoint accuracy.”

Nitin Mittal, the regional general counsel for Greater India and Pacific region at lighting company Signify, demonstrates how a small legal team can deliver outsized impact. Mittal heads the legal, compliance and governance function in a four-member team that successfully closed a strategic joint venture with consumer durables manufacturer Dixon Technologies.

Mittal and his team advised on more than 50 business projects, negotiated dozens of commercial agreements, managed critical litigation and regulatory matters, and completed transfers relating to more than 14,000 shareholder folios without compliance lapses.

TTK Prestige general manager – legal, G Ramesh Babu, leads a three-member legal team responsible for contracts, dispute resolution, compliance and intellectual property at the kitchen appliance manufacturer.

During the year he managed more than 150 litigation matters, processed more than 1,300 contracts, secured 98 trademark registrations and obtained well-known trademark status for the Prestige brand. His team also co-ordinated more than 20 intellectual property raids and secured a Karnataka High Court ruling on revised price stickers following GST rate reductions that benefitted the wider industry.

According to Vidya K, a litigation partner at King Stubb & Kasiva in Hyderabad, TTK Prestige’s Babu proactively identifies legal and compliance risks and develops strategies to support organisational objectives. “He encourages accountability, teamwork and proactive problem solving, thereby contributing to a dependable and solution-driven legal culture within the organisation,” says Vidya.

Another legal counsel whose work involves a strong balance between commercial demands and highly specific regulatory and compliance obligations is Komal Gadia, former general counsel at Novel Jewels (Aditya Birla Group).

Gadia’s strong technical expertise and commercial awareness are highlighted by Deeksha Dabas, assistant manager of legal practice and strategy at Fox & Mandal in Delhi, describing her as a legal leader who consistently provides “practical, solution-oriented legal advice”, while balancing legal risk with business realities. “She adopts a proactive and forward-looking approach towards identifying and mitigating legal and commercial risks, while ensuring seamless co-ordination across stakeholders and business functions.”

Professional services and support

As professional services firms continue to expand their global delivery capabilities and increasingly rely on technology-enabled operating models, legal functions are being asked to support far more than traditional compliance and contracting work.

With a career spanning more than three decades, Dhananjay Shahi, general counsel at Deloitte South Asia, oversees a diverse portfolio that includes contracting, recovery litigation, insolvency matters and regulatory issues. In the past year, he played a leading role in structuring and completing a complex joint venture that required multiple ancillary arrangements and an innovative phased approach to documentation to meet critical timelines.

He established a legal leadership council comprising senior lawyers across the organisation to strengthen collaboration and governance across the legal function. Shahi also undertook a law firm empanelment process where various law firms were listed on the basis of their credentials.

Pallavi Puri, a corporate partner at DMD Advocates in New Delhi, says: “[Shahi] handles both the litigation and corporate side of things. I have worked very closely with him on complex deals, and his depth of knowledge and eye for detail is commendable.”

In keeping with modern frameworks, Saket Yadav, legal and compliance director at BDO RISE India, has helped build the legal infrastructure necessary to support a fast-growing professional services organisation operating across multiple cities including office expansion projects in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata. He and his local team of five lawyers have supported BDO RISE’s growth to more than 3,500 employees across six cities in India.

Yadav worked alongside the company’s US office of general counsel to focus on strengthening compliance and improving contract management processes. In addition, to minimise operational disruption, he guided company leadership to navigate regulatory changes like the labour codes and Digital Personal Data Protection Act.

Recognised as a Rising Star, Medha Chhabra, head of legal at communications agency Havas India, leads a five-member team and supports multiple entities and business lines across contracting, governance, compliance, intellectual property, employment and privacy matters.

In the past year, she built and scaled a unified legal team across multiple Havas India entities, moving from fragmented support to a centralised, strategic capability. Chhabra introduced governance frameworks, structured approval processes and scalable operational tools that helped improve efficiency across the business.

She led successful debt recovery initiatives, including recovering INR3.2 million (USD33,600) from a disputed client matter and resolving long‑pending dues without the need for engaging external counsel. In addition, she adopted a zero‑litigation approach, resolving disputes through negotiation before escalation. Samir Gandhi, partner and co-founder at Axiom5 Law Chambers in New Delhi, points to Chhabra’s collaborative leadership style as one of her defining strengths, saying: “Medha works well as part of a larger legal team and is able to balance the requirements of business teams, internal stakeholders and external counsel with ease.”

Investment, real estate and transportation

Investment, real estate, logistics and mobility businesses are increasingly operating in environments shaped by capital flows, regulatory scrutiny, complex stakeholder relationships and rapid business transformation.

Monica Umesh, principal legal counsel at venture capital firm 3one4 Capital, which manages USD800 million in assets, receives a Rising Star award in the Financial services category. She leads a four-member legal team who also win a team award under the same category, supporting investments, exits, portfolio governance, fund documentation and internal legal infrastructure.

In the past year, she and her team managed about 42 investments with an aggregate value of about USD120 million, most of them completed without external legal support, while also contributing to transaction activity from portfolio companies totalling USD560 million.

Umesh joined in 2021 as the firm’s first in-house lawyer and built the legal function. She was also the first to start the practice of appointing external legal firms on larger and more complex matters to augment the firm’s capacity without expanding the team size.

Alongside deal execution, Umesh strengthened the firm’s governance framework through ESG initiatives, due diligence repositories, structured tracking systems and legal training programmes that embedded legal considerations earlier in investment decision making.

The team had to contend with many challenging situations at its portfolio companies. In one, a founder’s exit led to a share clawback dispute that required careful management, while an internal fraud case required protecting the company’s position and guiding its response.

As group general counsel and executive director at Cube Highways, Mukul Shastry has built a reputation as a trusted adviser on interconnected issues, establishing himself as a trusted adviser within one of India’s leading infrastructure investment platforms.

Peter Doraisamy, founder and group managing partner at PDLegal in Singapore, says: “[Shastry’s] proactive and solutions-oriented approach has strengthened governance, mitigated risk and enabled efficient execution across large-scale infrastructure projects.”

As vice president, legal at Piaggio Vehicles, Kavitha Sripada brings extensive experience across multiple industries and a combination of technical legal knowledge, practical judgement and communication skills that has made her a trusted adviser within the business.

She earns praise from Suruchi Kotoky, a corporate partner at Kochhar & Co in New Delhi, who says: “As a leader, Kavitha leads with both strength and compassion. She is deeply respected for her calm presence, sound judgement and unwavering support for her team and colleagues.

“She genuinely cares about people, invests in mentoring others, and creates an environment where individuals feel encouraged, valued and empowered to grow. Her breadth of experience, strong ethical foundation, leadership qualities and consistent excellence make her truly deserving of this recognition.”