India Law Forum & LITFest 2022

Sameer Kochhar is a social scientist, leading reforms historian in India and an acclaimed author. His domain expertise on socio-economic issues has been used by the government and private sector alike for consultancy on public policy and strategy. He has published 16 books including Defeating Poverty, ModiNomics and The Untold Story of Indian Reforms. He is privileged to have his books released by Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr Narendra Modi, Mr Arun Jaitley and Mr P. Chidambaram, among several other luminaries. His mantra is growth, livelihoods and equity.

Rohan Kochhar holds an MPA in Public Administration and Management from University College London (UCL) and a B.A. (H) Economics from Delhi University. During his time at UCL, he also received an unconditional offer to pursue a PhD in Political Science under the tutelage of the Director, School of Public Policy and Head of Department, Political Science, University College London. He was UCL’s official nominee for the inaugural cohort of UNLEASH – A Global Innovation Lab for SDGs in Copenhagen funded by Carlsberg Foundation.

Gul Panag is an actress with an accomplished career and also a social activist, She runs the Colonel Shamsher Singh Foundation,an NGO that works towards a variety of causes including gender equality, education and disaster management. She has also served on the advisory board of the Wockhardt Foundation.Gul Panag is also a director at Tittar Lodge Productions Private Limited, which provides digital, tailor-made TV content, film and documentary content.

Professor Satya Pal Singh Baghel is a member of the Lok Sabha from The Agra constituency. He is the current Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. This is his 4th term in the Lok Sabha, previously he has been a member of the 12th,13th and 14th Lok Sabha as well. His education qualifications include M.Sc. (Military Science), LL.B. , Ph.D and a M.A. in (History). He has also taught as an Associate Professor, Defense Studies, at Agra College. He has also been a part of multiple parliamentary committees, the most recent ones being Member, Standing Committee on Urban Development,Committee on Subordinate Legislation and Consultative Committee, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

Mrs. Rekha Sharma assumed the charge of Chairperson, National Commission for Women on August 7, 2018. She has been a Member of the Commission since August, 2015. Before joining the Commission, Smt. Sharma was actively associated with civil society organizations in different capacities. Smt. Sharma has worked extensively on issues impacting women’s lives.Prior to joining the Commission, she was a Member of the District Consumer & Redressal Forum in the Government of Haryana. Smt. Sharma has also been instrumental in the establishment of a registered NGO called ‘Haryana Mahila Utthan Samiti’ which works for the empowerment of rural women in the state.

Mr Mahesh Jethmalani is a lawyer and a politician. He is currently a nominated Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha and a senior advocate at the Supreme Court.He has had an illustrious and long legal career in which he has appeared in several important cases as an advocate. He has represented influential families such as the Birla family in the Priyamvada Birla case and has also appeared for Anil Ambani in the Reliance Case. Other cases, which he has been a part of include the trial of Harshad Mehta in the Maruti Udyog Case.

Pinky Anand , a trustee of The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust is a designated senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India and the incumbent Additional Solicitor General of India. A doctorate of law, graduate of Harvard Law School, an Inlaks scholar, honorary professor at Amity Law School, she is the second woman in India to have been awarded this high constitutional law office.Her laurels include being an alternate country councilor (India) of LAWASIA and the vice president of the Bar Association of India. She has been the recipient of the National Order of Merit awarded by the President of France, and has several awards to her credit, including those for excellence in law awarded by FICCI, Lions Club, Amity University, Bharat Nirman, PHD Chamber for Progress, Harmony and Development.

Milee Ashwarya is Publisher, Ebury Publishing and Vintage Publishing at Penguin Random House India. Her focus has been on championing the best voices in fiction and non-fiction while publishing a range of bestsellers across segments. Her authors include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Piyush Pandey, Hussain S. Zaidi, Yuvraj Singh, Hindol Sengupta, R. Gopalakrishnan, Karan Johar, and Ravi Subramaniam to name a few.

Gauri Goburdhun is an Associate at P&A Law offices. She has done her LLM from Georgetown University Law center, She also holds a LLB degree in Intellectual property law from Amity University.Previously she has worked as an associate at Kanth & Associates.