Finding the right legal representation is crucial when facing legal challenges, and in a bustling metropolis like Delhi, where the legal landscape is diverse and competitive, choosing the best lawyer can be a daunting task.
This article aims to guide you through a curated list of the top lawyers in Delhi, known for their expertise, experience, and proven track record in handling a wide range of legal matters. Whether you’re seeking advice on corporate law, family law, criminal defense, or civil litigation, this list features highly regarded professionals who can provide the legal support you need. Read on to discover the best legal minds in Delhi, committed to delivering exceptional service and client-focused solutions.
Mohit Saraf
Mohit Saraf, Founder & Managing Partner of Saraf and Partners, has close to three decades of experience in Mergers & Acquisitions, Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Dispute Resolution, Projects, Infrastructure and Energy, Restructuring & Insolvency. He has advised global and Indian companies; as well as large institutional investors such as Viatris, Baxter, Bayer, Carlyle, Abbot Laboratories, SBI, Goldman Sachs, Capgemini, Everstone Capital, Arcelor Mittal and Nippon Steel on multi-billion dollar deals.
Mr. Saraf is a member of the Steering Committee and the National Executive Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). He is also the co-chair of the Private Equity and Venture Capital Committee of FICCI.
Mr. Saraf is a member of the Corporate Laws, the Stressed Assets and the Capital Market Committees respectively. He is also a member of the Governing Body of the Indian Council of Arbitration.
Mr. Saraf is actively involved in the Government of India initiatives and has assisted in the drafting of the Electricity Bill, 2003; advised the Planning Commission on various concession agreements and also deposed in the Parliament on the Nuclear Liability Law, leading up to the enactment of Civil Nuclear Liability Act 2011. Mr. Saraf has led the drafting of the “Judicial Reforms Paper” which was presented on behalf of FICCI to Mr. Narendra Modi, the Honourable Prime Minister of India.
Mr. Saraf is regularly invited by the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal to share his experience with the Judicial Officers including High Court and Supreme Court Judges.
He has been highly recognized for his work and has received a several prestigious accolades such as ‘Eminent Practitioner’ by Chambers and Partners, Global Guide 2023, recognized amongst ‘Top 10 Corporate lawyers in India’, ‘Managing Partner of the Year’ by BW Legal Global Leaders Award 2021, ‘India Super 50 lawyers’ by Asian Legal Business 2021, ‘M&A Lawyer of the Year’ for India by IFLR 1000 India (2020), Who’s Who Legal Award 2021, and more.
Apart from the professional recognition, Mr. Saraf has also been awarded the ‘Shaurya Chakra’, a national peacetime gallantry award by the Honourable President of India, Mr. R. Venkatraman in 1991 for his selfless service to the nation. Further, he was awarded the Delhi Police Award, 1989, Significant Xaverian Award in 1992, and was appointed as a Special Police Officer, Delhi Police. St. Xavier High School also conferred upon Mr. Saraf the Distinguished Xaverian Award, 2019 as an achiever and a fine human being who dedicated his life ‘For God and Country’. He is also the recipient of the Hindu College Distinguished Alumni Award-2022 for excellence in Legal Affairs. Hon’ble Justice S.Ravindra Bhat, Judge Supreme Court of India was pleased to give him this award.
Anupm Prakash
With over 13 years of experience in the domain of commercial litigation and arbitration practice, Anupm is a Partner Designate in Disputes Resolution team at Saraf and Partners.
He has a rich experience in dealing with commercial disputes ranging from winding up and insolvency & bankruptcy matters, proceedings in relation to debts due to financial institutions, to proceedings pertaining to oppression and mismanagement and shareholders’ disputes, regulatory and contractual disputes. Having extensively practiced in the National Company Law Tribunals, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, various High Courts and the Supreme Court of India, he has a wide-ranging experience in the original as well as appellate proceedings.
Gitanjali Saraf
Gitanjali Saraf is a Senior Partner at Saraf and Partners. Her expertise lies in corporate law, technology law, sports law, environment law and not for profit regime.
With experience on both sides of the spectrum, as an external legal consultant and a General Counsel, Gitanjali brings a well-rounded expertise to the table. Her role as the General Counsel involved heading the Legal and Secretarial Department of the Indian subsidiaries of Perot Systems Corporation, USA—a Fortune 1000 Corporation. Gitanjali’s sphere of responsibilities extended beyond the Indian company to encompass 20 subsidiaries across North America, Europe, Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region, including prominent locations such as Japan, Hong Kong, China, and the Philippines. Furthermore, she was extended a board position within the company.
Gitanjali has been honoured by the International Who’s Who Society for her exemplary accomplishments and distinguished service. Moreover, Gitanjali was featured in BW Legal World’s prestigious “100 Most Influential Women 2023” list, specifically recognized as a “Legacy Builder of Law.” This esteemed list acknowledges 100 women leaders who are driving change and progress in the Indian legal ecosystem.
Gitanjali is a Mentor on Digital Mentorship Platform for Women which is a global mentorship e-platform to promote women’s leadership at all levels through knowledge exchange. The portal is hosted on the women’s empowerment platform of NITI Aayog and serves as a global mentoring and capacity-building portal for women mentees and mentors from G-20 nations.
Debarpan Ghosh
Debarpan’s practice consists of a distinctive combination of transactional work (focusing on M&A, private equity, and venture capital transactions) and regulatory work (focusing on securities laws, foreign exchange laws, company laws – with an emphasis on the business sectors of healthcare, defence, aerospace, agricultural commodities). His unique profile has positioned him to ably advise on complex transactions and restructurings – especially in industry sectors where there is extensive interface of transactional aspects with regulatory aspects. Similarly, Debarpan has extensively advised clients on structuring various financial product offerings so that they can be brought to market in a regulatorily compliant manner. He also provides counsel to boards of directors and senior management of various listed companies on regulatory and governance matters and has assisted in formulating strategies to address potential claims and investigations.
Debarpan has, during his time in practice, acted on some of the most complex and high-profile transactions undertaken in India – working for a broad swathe of clients, ranging from leading Indian and international corporations to various eminent private equity and venture capital funds and leading financial institutions. His pragmatic and solution oriented approach and ability to apply his commercial and legal judgement to simplify complex issues, marks him out amongst his peers.
Aditya Vikram Singh
Aditya Vikram Singh is a Partner Designate at Saraf and Partners in its Dispute Resolution practice. He specialises in civil and corporate commercial disputes, ranging from arbitrations, insolvency disputes and recovery proceedings. With over ten years of experience, Aditya has advised and represented clients in several high-profile insolvency disputes (acted for resolution applicant, resolution professional as well as in certain other matters, for the creditors), commercial suits (pertaining to claim for damages, specific performance, trademark infringement, etc.) and arbitration (pertaining to construction projects and auto industry). Besides, in the past, Aditya has also represented clients in various criminal proceedings (white-collar crimes and investigation).
Aditya’s fora of practice include representing clients across the Supreme Court, High Courts, District Courts, Quasi-Judicial Tribunals like National Company Law Tribunal, National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. He also advises clients in relation to proceedings under the RBI’s Master Circular on Wilful Defaulters and provides preventive litigation advisory.
Beyond the legal practice, Aditya is also involved in taking courses on insolvency laws as well as interdisciplinary courses on interplay of insolvency and arbitration laws.
Sanya Sud
Sanya is a Partner Designate with the Dispute Resolution team at Saraf and Partners. Sanya has a wide array of expertise across several fields and subject areas. She has been extensively involved in representing domestic and foreign clients in the areas of arbitration and commercial litigation.
She has represented engineering companies, as contractors and PMCs, in construction arbitrations and has experience in sectors spanning oil and gas, road, power and renewable energy (wind and solar power). She has also represented both lenders and borrowers in commercial and insolvency matters and has represented clients before Supreme Court of India, High Courts, District Courts, Debt Recovery Tribunals, NCLTs and Consumer Fora.
She was a research assistant with the Ministry of Home Affairs Committee for Reforms on Criminal Law and holds a keen academic interest and practical expertise in the field of criminal law and white-collar crime.
Avirup Nag
Avirup is a Partner in the M&A and Infrastructure team at Saraf and Partners. He possesses nearly two decades of comprehensive experience in providing strategic counsel to clients across various sectors in relation to M&A and PE deals and on various aspects of project development. With a specific focus on renewable energy, conventional power, roads/transport, e-mobility, and heavy industries, Avirup regularly represents developers/companies, financial and strategic investors in M&A and PE transactions, and has been instrumental in facilitating significant transactions in these sectors.
Furthermore, Avirup regularly acts for clients in drafting and negotiating intricate project development contracts, long-term agreements, supply contracts, operations contracts, off-take contracts, and concession contracts in the Energy and infrastructure domain.
His expertise extends beyond national borders, having undertaken advisory roles not only in India but also in diverse international jurisdictions such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Mauritius, Bhutan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka. This international exposure has fortified his role as an adept international counsel in project development mandates and M&A deals.
Dhruv Chatterjee
Dhruv is a Partner in the M&A, PE and Corporate practice of the firm. Dhruv’s practice focusses on mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity and venture capital investments, exits and strategic corporate advisory for companies, institutional investors, funds, founders and family offices.
During the last 12 years, Dhruv has advised various multinational and domestic companies (including, founders and family offices) as well as private equity and venture capital funds in respect of control transactions, minority investments and exits, in various sectors, including infrastructure, real estate, power & renewable energy, EVs and EV infrastructure, retail, e-commerce, logistics, manufacturing (FMCG, food and cars), financial services and fintech.
Ramya Suresh
Ramya Suresh is a Partner at the firm in the General Corporate practice and specialises in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, private equity and structured investments as well as advisory work. With her experience of about a decade and half in the general corporate M&A field, Ramya has amassed experience in and built a diverse, sector agnostic practice spanning energy and infrastructure, manufacturing, agri/dairy-tech, automobiles, media and advertising, e-commerce, e-pharmacy, ed-tech, IT/ITES, FMCG, real estate, non-banking finance and defence sectors.
Ramya has advised on a range of domestic and cross-border transactions, including several high profile strategic buyouts, financial/institutional investments, joint ventures, court-approved mergers/demergers, business/asset transfers and intra-group restructuring, involving both, publicly listed and private, companies/targets. On the advisory side, Ramya has advised, Indian as well as foreign owned and controlled clients, on a wide range of general and sector specific Indian licensure relating to inter alia company incorporation, employment laws, business expansions (strategies and compliances), internal policies (sexual harassment, anti-bribery, code of conduct, privacy policy, website terms etc.), dealership and other commercial contracts, employee disputes, service termination/retrenchment, VRS, online content regulations and gaming laws.
Amit Gupta
Amit Gupta is the Tax Partner leading the Tax practice of the firm with more than a decade of experience in the handling various facets of tax including Transaction Tax, Corporate Tax, International Tax.
He has focused experience in providing holistic solutions to clients in the field of taxation and transaction advisory having served several entities(in a cross-section of industries) and their stakeholders on contentious and non-contentious tax issues. He has built his niche in conceptualising and evaluating avant-garde efficient alternatives for undertaking the desired transactions based on the underlying commercial objectives.
He has significant experience in advising and assisting clients on tax litigation before various fora. He has been advising various coveted clients for promoter centric matters including estate and successions planning.
Anirudh Krishan Gandhi
Anirudh Krishan Gandhi is a Partner Designate in the Firm’s Dispute Resolution practice group and is based in New Delhi. He has over nine years of experience in advising and representing clients in complex and high-value arbitrations and litigations.
An alumnus of the Geneva LL.M. in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS) and the National Law University, Delhi (NLUD), Anirudh specializes in handling international and domestic arbitrations under all major arbitration rules and governed by various substantive laws. His expertise extends to handling annulment and enforcement proceedings, civil and commercial litigations, and insolvency matters. He serves clients across a wide range of sectors, including energy, infrastructure, technology, media, entertainment, e-commerce, financial services, healthcare, food & beverage, aviation, insurance, and real estate.
Anirudh’s practice encompasses various fora, such as the Supreme Court, High Courts, District Courts, Arbitration (International and Domestic), and Quasi-Judicial Tribunals like the National Company Law Tribunal, National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, National Green Tribunal, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and Debt Recovery Tribunal.
Beyond his legal practice, Anirudh actively shares his knowledge by teaching courses. He has delivered courses on Types of Claims and Common Disputes in Contracts, as well as Best Practices in Commercial Arbitration, for the Certificate Programme in Contractual Dispute Resolution (offered jointly by the World Bank, Indian Council of Arbitration, and All India Management Association). Additionally, he has taught a course on the Practical Approach to Dispute Resolution offered by Jindal Global Law School.
Arunav Guha Roy
Arunav is a Partner Designate with the Dispute Resolution team at Saraf and Partners. Arunav is qualified to practice as an Advocate in India and as a Solicitor in the Senior Courts of England & Wales. He has over eight years’ experience in acting for domestic and foreign clients in areas of arbitration and commercial litigation.
Arunav has represented clients in litigations and arbitrations focusing on construction, insolvency, trusts, environment, joint ventures/ SHAs, consumer protection, data protection and trademark infringement disputes; apart from undertaking merger filings, enforcing foreign judgments/awards and providing pre-litigation advice.
He has acted for engineering companies, as contractors and PMCs, in construction arbitrations and has experience in sectors spanning oil and gas, road, power and renewable energy (wind and solar power). He has also represented both lenders and borrowers in commercial and insolvency matters and has represented clients before Supreme Court of India, High Courts, District Courts, Debt Recovery Tribunals, NCLTs and Consumer Fora. Arunav has also undertaken a mini pupillage at Red Lion Chambers, London where he shadowed Jennifer Dempster (King’s Counsel) during his postgraduate studies.
Vijay Kaundal
Vijay Kaundal is a Partner in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice of the firm with 27+ years of experience. Prior to joining the firm, Vijay was associated with SRGR Law Offices and Dutt Menon Dunmorrsett.
Mr. Kaundal’s expertise spreads across a broad range of legal concerns such as civil, criminal, corporate and also trade mark matters. He has represented before the Supreme Court of India, High Courts, District Courts & Tribunals, Commercial Courts, National Company Law Tribunal, National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, Debt Recovery Tribunal, Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal, Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (MSEFC), Consumer Forums and TDSAT. He exhibits special expertise in providing end-to-end litigation advisory right from drafting applications, opposition, evidence, cross examination to appearances and arguments in all spectrums of legal field. In addition, Vijay has handled various domestic as well as international arbitrations.
Vijay also represents clients in inquiries and investigations before various government departments, investigating authorities and other designated statutory authorities.
Snigdhaneel Satpathy
At a young age, Snigdhaneel is well-known as an ace lawyer for M&A and regulatory practice. With a total experience of 12 years, he has undertaken some of the largest and most complex M&As in India. Clients are most appreciative of his unique mix of regulatory and transactional expertise that has positioned him to provide well suited advice for the most complex and nebulous transactions.. His solution-oriented approach in line with the business requirements of the client makes him stand out amongst his peers.
He has advised several global corporations on appropriate strategies in relation to investments and subsequent disinvestments in India. He is often the chosen counsel by domestic & multinational clients for his nuanced advisory on significant & complex corporate matters, including cross border mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, and private equity transactions. Along with having transactional prowess, he also provides credible advisory on shareholder disputes and complex regulatory issues.
He has extensive domain specific knowledge on foreign exchange laws, fintech laws, defense & aerospace laws, gaming laws, securities laws and telecom laws. A sought after thought leader, he reliably counsels the government on policy issues related to foreign exchange and securities law.
Sahil Arora
In a brief yet distinct experience of 7 years, Sahil’s repertoire represents an eclectic mix of transactional and advisory work, having advised several domestic and multinational corporations in complex and marquee assignments. This includes cross border mergers & acquisitions, private equity transactions, joint ventures, as well as providing regulatory and structuring advice on foreign exchange laws (including both inbound and outbound investment), securities laws, company laws, and technology laws including extensive work in the FinTech sector.
Sahil has advised leading technology companies, payment institutions and online marketplaces to structure their product offerings, keeping in mind the evolving regulatory framework in this emerging space.
Sahil is recognised for providing creative solutions to some of the most complex challenges involved in structuring business ventures and transactions across a myriad of highly regulated legal fields. His responsiveness and commitment to client’s goal is well known and in a recent India Business Law Journal report, a client has described Sahil’s work ethic in the following words – “our company was in good hands with Sahil and his team”.
Sahil is also a noted commentator on Indian regulatory issues and developments, and has delivered lectures on aspects involved in M&A deal making and fintech. Sahil’s elevation to Partnership made him the youngest Partner in the firm. This is a distinct example even amongst other premier corporate law firms in India, having done so in just 7 years of practice.
Rohit Raghavan
Rohit is a Partner in the Banking & Finance practice with 15+ years of experience and specializes in Project Finance, Corporate Finance, External Commercial Borrowings, Debt Market and Money Marking Instruments and Derivatives.
Rohit has steered several large and complex lending and debt capital market transactions during his career and has acted for some of the largest banks, financial institutions and marquee corporate houses in India.
Rohit has regularly advised lenders in project financing in sectors as distinct as renewable energy, mining, oil & gas, petrochemicals and airports, while also helming corporate debt restructurings, debt capital market issuances by Indian issuers in India and abroad.
He has also provided reliable counsel to novel matters involving lenders lending to overseas infrastructure project developers for projects which needed to be supported by credit extended by their domestic holding companies. Rohit has also advised investors in the distressed asset space including matters where loans were given to revive stuck real estate projects and also where takeover of insolvent companies was involved.
Ravi Bishnoi
Ravi is a Partner in the real estate and infrastructure practice at the firm and has a vast experience of around 28 years.
Ravi has extensive experience in Infrastructure, Projects and M&A related transaction. He is the trusted go-to counsel for various stakeholders in complex infrastructure projects including the government, owners, developers, concessionaires, investors, lenders, contractors, and sub-contractors. Ravi has also been actively involved in advising various Indian as well as multinational companies on corporate and commercial law aspects.
In addition to the above, Ravi has been actively involved in drafting, structuring and negotiating various complex corporate agreements such as concession agreements, power purchase agreements, fuel supply agreements, share purchase agreements, shareholders agreements, financing agreements, and operation and maintenance agreements. He is well known for providing reliable legal advice for complex contracts.
Akshayy S Nanda
Akshayy is a Partner in the competition law practice at Saraf and Partners. He has over 15+ years of professional experience and he advises clients on a full range of competition law aspects including cartel enforcement, abuse of dominance, merger control, leniency applications, competition law audits and compliance. He regularly appears before the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and the Supreme Court of India.
He has substantial experience in advising multinational and domestic clients on wide-ranging complex antitrust issues such as predatory pricing, tying and bundling, exploitative and exclusionary practices, price parity or MFN issues, preferential treatment, loyalty inducing or fidelity rebates, price discrimination, refusal to supply, margin squeeze, unfair terms and conditions, exclusivity agreements and resale price maintenance.
He exhibits a strong domain expertise across a range of industries including stock exchange, cement, automobile, retail, financial services, telecommunications, e-commerce, music licensing, aviation, auto-parts, pharmaceutical and banking. As a preferred counsel for sophisticated matters involving great precedential value, he is known to competently navigate through the rapidly evolving competition law landscape in India.
Akshay Jain
Akshay Jain is a Partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions practice of the Firm and has an extensive experience of 10+ years. He is well-known for his meticulous advisory on domestic and cross-border acquisitions and transfers, joint ventures, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, privatizations and business / asset transfers. He regularly advises clients on investment and exit strategies and related regulatory matters including on setting up of business presence in India. He also works closely with the Government of India on disinvestments, including advising on related policy matters.
Many clients also seek his nuanced advisory on a variety of employment matters ranging from employment issues in M&A transactions, employment policies, contracts and compliance matters, employee restructurings, to workforce reductions and closures.
His experience spans across various sectors such as pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, services, IT, e-commerce, media and infrastructure. His clientele includes listed and unlisted corporates (both in private and public sector), conglomerates, multinationals, funds as well as government agencies.
Abhishek Swaroop
Abhishek is a Partner of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Team with a rich experience of about 18 years in handling complex corporate commercial litigations, with special focus on insolvency and bankruptcy, across various courts and tribunals in India.
He has been regularly advising a number of individuals & corporate clients in matters on a broad range of corporate commercial issues involving Companies Act and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. He also competently caters to the issues and disputes arising out of joint venture agreements, share purchase agreements, share subscription agreements, and scheme of arrangements. He has exposure on all facets of litigation right from the stage of strategizing, drafting and arguing the matters across various forums including Supreme Court, High Courts, NCLT as well as the NCLAT, amongst others.
He has handled some of the biggest litigations under insolvency laws and he is currently representing and advising several Indian banks, resolution professionals and liquidators in multiple matters across India.
Vaibhav Kakkar
Vaibhav Kakkar is a Senior Partner of the firm with over 17 years of experience and he also has a seat at the Management Committee of the firm. He exhibits a unique mix of extensive regulatory and transactional expertise and specialises in structuring transactions (especially cross-border), and advising on securities laws, foreign exchange laws, foreign contribution laws, fintech laws, company law, TMT laws and gaming laws.
He also leads the Regulatory practice at the firm apart from being a seasoned and General Corporate and Mergers & Acquisitions lawyer. He has advised several global corporations on appropriate strategies in relation to investments in India.
He is also the “go-to” counsel for a host of domestic and multinational clients on significant and complex corporate matters including cross border mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and private equity transactions. He regularly advises and works with the Government on policy issues relating to company law, securities law, exchange control laws, and also looks after the Firm’s advocacy and policy development team.
He has several publications to his credit and he is also a much sought-after commentator on emerging legal issues in India, particularly on FDI and exchange control laws and his views are frequently sought by major news channels, electronic and print media houses. Mr. Kakkar is also a Visiting Senior Fellow at Artha Global, which is an independent policy research, consulting and network facilitation organisation based in Mumbai and London.
Saroj Kumar Jha
Saroj is a Senior Partner having a vast experience of 27+ years and heads the real estate practice of the firm. He has proven expertise in the areas of real estate, general corporate consultancy, and M&A and he also specializes in advising foreign investors for their investments in India including nuanced issues such as entry routing, title searches, due diligence, drafting and vetting of various transaction documents amongst others.
Saroj’s scope of advice includes structuring corporate transactions in compliance with foreign exchange laws, advisory on corporate and commercial issues, due diligence and legal audits and he has efficiently advised on large-scale real estate projects.
Prior to joining the firm, he was the Founding Partner of SRGR Law Offices for more than 13 years.
Sanjeev Kumar Sharma
Sanjeev Kumar Sharma is a Senior Partner at Saraf and Partners in the Dispute Resolution – Litigation and Arbitration practice and has extensive experience of over 25 years. He regularly appears before various courts, tribunals and forums all over India.
Sanjeev has vast experience of handling insolvency and arbitrations matters. He has handled both domestic as well as international arbitrations across various sectors such as construction, infrastructure, engineering, real estate, energy, oil & gas, technology, steel and hospitality.
Sanjeev is widely recognized as an industry leader and he is adept at handling contractual and commercial disputes, suits, writ petitions, corporate disputes, labour/employment related opinions and disputes, white collar crime matters, criminal review / quashing petitions, insolvency matters and securitization & debt recovery matters.
Based on his experience and versatility, he was appointed by O. P. Jindal Global University (‘JGU’), the number one private university in India, as “Honorary Adjunct Professor of Law & Professor of Corporate Legal Practice at Jindal Global Law School” in 2020 and he continues to take frequent lectures at JGU’s Jindal Global Law School.