1. Tell us a little bit about yourself? How long have you been with the firm and in the legal profession?

My name is Aadith Sridhar. I am an associate in the dispute resolution team working out of the AZB Bangalore office. I began my journey with AZB immediately after completing my under graduation and have been with the firm for a little over a year now.

2. What has kept you busy over the last month?

Litigation being one of the primary focuses of the dispute resolution team, has given me the opportunity to be a part of several cases of varying nature, urgency, and subject matter before different fora. Over the last month, I have worked on two writ appeals before the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka and have increasingly worked on matters before quasi-judicial authorities such as the Adjudicating Authority under both the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, the Disciplinary Committee under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 etc.

3. Any interesting anecdote or experience that you would like to share?

A mandate was received on a late Tuesday evening for filing a petition before the High Court of Karnataka the very next morning seeking urgent ex-parte interim relief. A night full of work led to a successful 10 am filing the next day and the relief sought being granted 6 hours after filing at around 4:00 pm. This was a challenging yet enjoyable experience, where the team had successfully kept up with the galloping pace of litigation.

4. What is the one change that you would like to see in the legal landscape of India?

I am speaking in my personal capacity. Over the years, the legislature has focused on establishing expert-specific tribunals to utilize technical expertise and to make dispute resolution cost-effective and accessible. However, the performance of such tribunals needs objective evaluation from time to time. It is likely that such evaluation may indicate that tribunals contributed to judicial delays and some opacity.  I know that the profession has many proponents of detribunalisation that want to revert the jurisdiction of such tribunals to the respective original forums. Perhaps I am one of them.

5. What do you do apart from work?

I have always followed and played the game of chess, and often find myself in front of an online chess board at the end of a work day. In the weekends I try to play either basketball or badminton with a few friends and spend some quality time on outings with family.