Our people

Abhishek advises clients on a wide range of laws, such as energy and power sector laws, insolvency laws, real estate laws, companies’ law, foreign exchange laws, securities regulations, insurance laws and telecom laws. A keen observer of politics and regulatory environments, he routinely interacts with governmental and regulatory authorities in India, such as Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, Department of Telecommunication and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on several matters. He is also a registered insolvency resolution professional.

Abhishek has been involved in advising clients in several cross border transactions, including in setting up of power projects, in Nepal, Senegal, Bhutan, Maldives and Myanmar.

Abhishek enmeshes his passion for the practice of law with his penchant for mentoring and engaging with young minds. To that end, his career has been punctuated with various teaching stints, including at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, Amity Law School at New Delhi and Jindal Global Law School, Sonepat. He regularly contributes to various blogs, online magazines and has written several articles in leading national dailies and journals.

He has won several awards and accolades throughout his career. He was recently recognized as a Leading Partner for Corporate, Commercial & M&A (NCR) and a Recommended Lawyer for Project & Energy by the Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2025. Some of his other notable awards include: Recognized for Projects & Energy: India and Corporate and M&A: NCR (2024 and 2023) by The Legal 500, Ranked in A-List (India’s Top Lawyer) (2022, 2021 & 2020), Recognized for Corporate and M&A, Infrastructure and Restructuring & Insolvency (2024) by Asialaw, Ranked “Highly Regarded” for M&A and Project Development (2024) by IFLR1000, Recognized as “Litigation Star” for Insolvency (2024, 2021, 2020 & 2019) and Dispute Resolution (2020) by Benchmark Litigation, Recognized as a Leading Lawyer in Corporate & M&A (2024)

Mani heads the Firm’s litigation practice. She also heads the Firm’s insolvency litigation practice. Prior to helming the Firm’s dispute resolution practice, Mani was a corporate transactional lawyer. Her background as a transactions’ lawyer brings to the table a unique perspective on understanding of commercial contracts and commercial risk-allocations.

She is advising several clients in their corporate/ commercial disputes before various courts, tribunals and in arbitrations. Mani has been extensively involved in advising clients in financial distress in managing their litigation, and in advising on the Corporate Debt Restructuring and Strategic Debt Restructuring process of the Reserve Bank of India. Mani also has an expertise in handling commercial arbitrations in construction contracts, and power and infrastructure projects.

Mani has been involved in advising the Government of India in developing legal documentation for public-private partnership projects in the education space. She has advised the Government of Delhi on review of its school education laws and was invited by the Parliament’s Standing Committees for expert depositions on bills like Registration (Amendment) Bill, National Academic Depository Bill, 2011, the Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011, and the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2011.

Mani has been a key pillar of setting the Firm’s culture. She believes that all lawyers have an obligation to give back to the community in whatever way they can. To this end, Mani has co-founded a platform – Samvedna – for discussing issues around wellness in law. She is also a prolific writer, having contributed articles on legal issues in newspapers, legal journals and legal blogs.
Mani is an alumnus of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore and had worked with Luthra & Luthra Law Offices, New Delhi before joining Sarthak.

Awards and Accolades: Notable Practitioner for Dispute Resolution by Asialaw Leading Lawyers 2022; Top 100 women in Litigation by Benchmark Litigation Asia- Pacific’s Top 100 Women in Litigation 2021 and 2020.

She was recently recognized as a Recommended Lawyer for Dispute Resolution (NCR) by the Legal500 Asia-Pacific 2025 Rankings. Some of her additional awards and accolades such as: Recognized for Projects & Energy: India (2024) and Corporate and M&A: NCR (2023) by The Legal 500, Recognized for Dispute Resolution (2024). Ranked for Corporate and M&A, Dispute Resolution, Restructuring & Insolvency, Infrastructure & Energy (2023, 2022, 2021 & 2020) and Private Equity (2023) by Asialaw, Ranked “Notable Practitioner” for Restructuring & Insolvency (2024) by IFLR1000, Recognized as “Litigation Star” for Commercial & Transactions (2024, 2021, 2020 & 2019) by Benchmark Litigation , Recognized as Top Disputes Lawyers (2022) by Asian Legal Business, Recognized as a Leading Lawyer in Dispute Resolution: Arbitration & Litigation Legal Era Rankings (2024-25)

She was also recognized as Top 100 Women in Litigation in Asia-Pacific (2020) by Benchmark Litigation.

Siddarth has advised various levels of government departments and public officials across the country, and has extensive expertise in resolving regulatory and legal policy challenges. He has assisted in drafting Private Member Bills for MPs, and also provides litigation and dispute resolution services. He has been involved in advising clients on investments in India and cross border transactions. He has also been a legal advisor to the Climate Policy Initiative and is empanelled with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, and Convergence Energy Services Ltd.

During his tenure at International Finance Corporation (IFC) at the World Bank Group (WBG), Siddarth provided legal advisory services to GoI on state level Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) rankings, and global EoDB rankings. He co-authored the section on ‘Enforcing Contracts’ in “Doing Business in India: Reform Memorandum”, submitted to GoI to improve the enforcement of contracts in India. He also represented WBG at consultations with the Bankruptcy Law Reforms Committee (BLRC), constituted by GoI to draft the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016.

Siddarth has provided transactional advice on Concession Agreements including, on the Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas, a PPP scheme under the Ministry of Rural Development. While at WBG, he also drafted the Model Concession Agreement for NITI Aayog to facilitate PPPs in the health care sector across districts in rural India.

He is an alumnus of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore and holds an LL.M. from the George Washington University Law School, as a Thomas Buergenthal Scholar.

Payal brings close to 2 decades of robust experience in advising domestic and international clients on diverse areas, including General Corporate, Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity, Venture Capital, Foreign Direct Investment, Start-ups, FEMA and Investment Fund Practice. Known for her strategic counsel, sharp negotiation skills, and a meticulous approach to crafting bespoke agreements, Payal is a trusted advisor for complex and high-value transactions. She is highly regarded by clients for her hands-on approach, technical knowledge, and negotiating skills. Payal has a stronghold in drafting agreements and tailor-making such agreements to cater to the specific needs of the clients.

Payal is also representing various investment funds, public sector undertakings, and guiding businesses through debt funding strategies to align with their growth objectives. She has comprehensive experience in handling cross-border investments, working closely with stakeholders to navigate multifaceted legal and regulatory landscapes. Beyond transactional work, she has represented clients in regulatory proceedings before various judicial and quasi-judicial institutions.

Payal has opined on the legalese in several matters including labour, industrial and welfare legislations, Environmental Laws, Competition Law, Real Estate Matters including matters pertaining to land ceiling legislations and queries relating to revenue and stamp laws. Payal has also represented clients before the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai and New Delhi for compounding matters and other related advisory.

Payal has conducted several corporate as well as land due diligences. The Corporate Due Diligences undertaken by her covered the proposed transaction, the general corporate data and structure of the target company, its best practices, policies and guidelines, indebtedness and guarantees, RBI compliances, statutory approvals/ licenses for business operations and compliances, subsisting business contracts, properties (movable, immovable and intellectual property), labour and employment matters, environment related issues, litigation and insurance policies. The corporate due diligences were undertaken at the behest of clients being Maharatna company, foreign companies, private companies and public companies spanning over sectors including Education, Pharmaceutical, Logistics, Engineering, E-Commerce, E-Security.

Payal has also undertaken Land Due Diligences for both commercial as well as residential properties detailing the project land, title verification report, record of rights (Jamabandis and Mutation records) ownership chain, licenses and approvals granted by the Office of the Director, Town and Country Planning and verifying sale deeds, agreement to sell and other such documentation.

Payal’s sector expertise inter-alia lies in manufacturing, refractories, pharmaceuticals, aviation, e-commerce, e-security, hospitality, education, warehousing and logistics, engineering, real estate, F&B industry, renewable energy and Information Technology.

Payal is a graduate of Amity Law School, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, and a member of the Bar Council of Delhi, Supreme Court Bar Association, and Delhi High Court Bar Association.

She has been recognized in various prestigious rankings, including Legal 500 and Asia Legal Business, for her leadership in corporate and M&A practice. She was also recognized as BW Legal 40 under 40, 2023 and was felicitated with Woman Icon of the Year 2024 by Fortune Leadership Awards.

She has been recently recognized as a Leading Partner for Corporate, Commercial & M&A (NCR) by the recently announced Legal500 Asia-Pacific 2025 Rankings. Her other awards and accolades include Legal 500 and Asia Legal Business Rankings, for her leadership in corporate and M&A practice. She was also recognized as BW Legal 40 under 40, 2023 and was felicitated with Woman Icon of the Year 2024 by Fortune Leadership Awards.

Anubhav is a part of the corporate transactions of the Firm. Anubhav advises clients on a wide range of laws, such as energy and power sector related laws, real estate laws, companies’ law, foreign exchange laws, securities regulations, and education laws. Anubhav is involved in several M&A, private equity and venture capital transactions. Anubhav also specializes in EPC contracts and project finance.

Some of Anubhav’s notable clients include Africa Energy S.A. (a Senegal based power producer), Sterlite Group, Hindustan Power Group, Moser Baer Group, Coastal Projects Limited, Jal Power Corporation Limited, Manav Rachna Group of Institutions and Indus World Schools. Anubhav is involved in advising clients in several cross border transactions, including in setting up of power projects, in Nepal, Senegal, Bhutan, and Maldives.

Anubhav is a graduate of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University at Lucknow.

He was recently recognized as a Recommended Lawyer for Project & Energy by the Legal500 Asia-Pacific 2025 Rankings. His other awards and accolades include: Ranked for Corporate and M&A: NCR (2024 and 2023) by The Legal 500, Recognized as “Rising Star 40 under 40” by the Legal Era and Rising Star by Asian Legal Business (2023).

Santosh’s career in law has been preceded by a long-career in FMCG companies Bata India Limited and Hindustan Unilever Limited. Before joining the legal profession, Santosh did consulting with MSMEs to compete globally and helped four such factories to scale up 10x in eight years, delivering reliability to global clients and earning their trust.

Santosh has a great passion for learning and to this end, he has pursued and successfully completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Cyber Law from Indian Law Institute, New Delhi; Master of Business Law from National Law School of India University, Bangalore; LLB from University of Delhi; and Chemistry Honours from Bhagalpur University.

Santosh is enrolled with Bar Council of Delhi with Certificate of Practice from Bar Council of India. His practice areas include legal advisory, consumer protection, real estate, and dispute resolution.