Jury members

Mr. Lalit Bhasin is currently the President of the Society of Indian Law Firms and also the Managing Partner of Bhasin & Co. He was awarded Honorary Membership of the IBA in Melbourne in 1994 for outstanding service to the legal profession. He is also the honorary Secretary General of The Bar Association of India. He was awarded the Plaque of Honour by the Prime Minister of India in 2002 for outstanding contribution to the Rule of Law. He is the Executive President of the India Law Foundation. According to Asia Law Profiles "the high-profile advocate and litigator Lalit Bhasin, Bhasin & Co., Advocates continues to be one of New Delhi's leading litigation firms. Bhasin is well respected for his leadership abilities in the legal community. Apart from litigation, the firm also has a good reputation for its general corporate and commercial work and has recently joined the list of firms involved in privatization. Bhasin & Co. currently maintains offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and has 28 associates."

A dynamic and result oriented legal professional with 3 decades (37 years) of experience in legal areas encompassing Banking, Corporate, Capital Market and Business Laws, Cross Border Transaction & procedures, Human Resource issues and Employee Grievance Redressal. Litigation & Cross Border Litigation and International Arbitration. Currently designated as Legal Advisor and heading the Legal Operations Group of Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd. (Arcil), Mumbai, one of India's largest and premier ARC. Prior to that he was President & Head of Law Dept and is heading the Legal department of AXIS Bank Ltd, Mumbai. A new generation Private sector bank having a total of over 2100 branches in India and abroad. The team comprised of 35 Legal Professionals. In-depth understanding of matters related to Documentation, Structured finance, Mergers and Takeovers, Capital Markets, Capital raising, GDR'S / Cross Border, Acquisition, setting up of Foreign Branches, financing companies for foreign acquisition, Private Banking, Taxation Laws, Banking Laws, Suit Filings and Litigation, Civil and Criminal Laws, Recoveries of Debts including SARFAESI related issues, Documentation, of all types of loans and structured finances, IPR, Trade Marks and Copyright Laws, Corporate & Structured Finances and compliance. Proficient in drafting legal documents and assisting senior legal professionals and appearing before courts and tribunals. Practical and business focused approach to achieve organizational goals & coupled with strong inter personal skills. Adept at maintaining cordial business relationship with legal counsels/ senior counsels & external agencies. An effective communicator with exceptional relationship management skills. Apart from this, known and admired speaker in many of the National & International Conference on various subjects as also a Guest Lecturer and a Visiting Faculty for many institutions on Banking Laws, Mergers and Acquisitions, Tax Laws in India. Independently appears before the Courts, Tribunals and represents the Bank in major tax related cases. Contributes to many professional magazines and newspapers and is a member legal and operational committee of Indian Banker's Association apart from a Faculty Member in many reputed Institutes.

Dr. Sanjeev Gemawat is a General Counsel and Corporate Secretary; a thought leader and a strategist with business orientation. He is Chartered Secretary from India and the UK, Chartered Accountant and Cost & Management Accountant, besides post graduate in Law and Doctorate in Insider Trading.

Dr. Gemawat is presently working as Executive Director, Group General Counsel & Group Company Secretary with Dalmia Bharat Group. He has almost three decades of experience spanning through varied industries like automobile, real estate, hospitality, manufacturing etc. and has been earlier associated with Indian as well as multi-national corporates like DLF, JCB, Olivetti, GBC & Modicorp.

An acclaimed speaker/author on varied contemporary legal and industry specific issues, he has shared his views at various national and international conferences. He has been a part of various committees/delegations constituted by industry/professional bodies and interacted with multilateral trade bodies.

He has been honored as Top 100 General Counsels of India in various prestigious General Counsel lists as released by Forbes India, Business World etc. He has been honored as one of “India’s finest in-house counsels”, the “Most Influential Corporate Counsel and Company Secretary” and also inducted to “Global Hall of Fame” for his contribution in the Legal Eco System in India and the World.

Dr. Sanjeev Gemawat is one of the founding members of the GCAI. He has been advocating the cause of statutory recognition of role of General Counsels and aims to work towards achieving this objective.