Maneesha is a highly reputed litigation lawyer with over three decades of expertise in handling wide range of cases in Commercial litigation, Arbitration (Domestic & International), Corporate Restructuring & Insolvency, Telecom and M&A. She represents a myriad client base including Business Houses, MNCs, Banks/FIs, PSUs besides Central and State Governments, Ministries and Departments before Supreme Court of India, Delhi High Court and various other Courts, Tribunals and Appellate bodies.

She has served as a member on committee formed for framing rules / regulations relating to National Company Law Tribunal /National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (Adjudicating Authorities) and drafting of Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code 2016. Further, she served as Secretary of INSOL India from 2008 to 2015. She was a member of Bankruptcy Law Reforms Committee (BLRC) which was formed to draft the structure of new Insolvency & Bankruptcy code, part of the Achutan Committee, which was formed to advise the Government on the Takeover Code of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers).

She was a member of The Bimal Jalan Committee, which was set up by SEBI to examine issues arising from the ownership and governance of Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs) and member of the committee to amend Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959 and Company Secretaries Act, 1980 to strengthen the disciplinary mechanism for regulation of the members of Institutes. She is widely acclaimed for handling Telecom issues in both regulatory sphere and litigation. She was a Senior Counsel for Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Govt. of India, which grants licenses for various telecom services. She represented DoT in a high profile and complex matter of 3G Spectrum. She was also appointed as Special Counsel by the Office of the Custodian and MCA in the matters of Satyam Computer, Maytas Infra Limited, Maytas Properties Limited, Sahara India before the Company Law Board, Delhi High Court and Supreme Court of India and Office of custodian and MCA in the matter of Ketan Parekh & Companies.

She was a Panel Advocate/Central Government Pleader at Delhi High Court and a Senior Panel Counsel for the Union of India by Ministry of Law and Justice, Department of Legal Affairs for conducting Central Government Litigation before the Court/Tribunal. She was also appointed as Standing Counsel of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). She advised them on litigation strategies and conducted their matters before TDSAT, Delhi High Court and Supreme Court of India.

Apart from this, she advised them on various issues arising out of their interconnection agreements with other telecom operators and regulatory intricacies including impact of various order / direction / regulation by the Licensor / TRAI etc. She was a Retainer Counsel with TRAI and regularly represented them in matters relating to regulations, licensing and adjudicatory proceedings besides rendering legal opinion on various consultation papers proposed by TRAI. She has been bestowed with many awards and has received various accolades for her myriad contributions such as ‘National Bar Award’ by All India Bar Association in recognition of her dedication to the study and practice of Commercial Litigation, ‘Managing Partner of the Year (Female) 2023’ by The Economic Times, ‘Woman Lawyer of the Year 2020’ Award by Public Diplomacy Forum.

She was ranked amongst India’s Top 15 Dispute Resolution lawyers by Asian Legal Business, and recognised as Asia’s Woman Leader 2022 by IFLR 1000. She is highly regarded as a leading lawyer by IFLR1000. She was ranked as Recognised Practitioner, Notable Practitioner and Litigation Star by Chambers & Partners, AsiaLaw Profiles and Benchmark Litigation respectively. as a leading lawyer by Chambers & Partners, IFLR1000, Legal 500 and AsiaLaw Profiles.

She is a regular speaker at various global conferences on insolvency laws and has conducted many study circles in Delhi High Court on IBC 2016.

Beyond professional commitments, she supports social causes and conducts pro bono matters. She also advises Rural Medicare Centre which offers advanced healthcare at affordable cost.

LLB, 1990, Delhi University

M.A. (Mathematics), 1986, Delhi University

B.A. (Hons.) Mathematics, 1984, St. Stephen’s college, Delhi

Co-Chair – IWIRC India Network

Director – IWIRC Asia Network Board

Vice President – Women in Law & Litigation (WILL)

Vice Chairman – Society of Construction Law

Mediator – Delhi High Court Mediation Centre

Member – INSOL India and INSOL International

Member – User’s Council, India International Arbitration Centre