In Conversation with Anand Vardhan | President – Legal | Piramal Capital & Housing Finance

Please allow us a peek into your illustrious journey in law. Where did this journey begin, who were your mentors, and what keeps you busy when you’re not working (hobbies)

I have been part of legal fraternity for more than 20 years and have had the opportunity and good fortune to gain extensive hands-on experience in various areas including financial services, private equity/ NBFC/ HFC/ investment management to funds, general banking & infrastructure, mortgage finance, real estate, recoveries & consumer protection, insolvency & bankruptcy proceedings, stressed accounts management and dispute resolution. I was tasked to establish the legal team at Piramal Capital and I believe we have been able to develop a solution oriented, meritorious and successful in-house legal team.  

Prior to joining Piramal, I was the General Counsel of SUN-Apollo Ventures, an offshore real estate private equity fund, and before that I was Associate Vice President and Head – Legal of HDFC Venture Capital Fund. Prior to HDFC, I have held several managerial positions in legal function at leading business houses like ICICI Bank, Tata Housing and Daewoo Motors. 

By qualification, I am IRPM (Industrial Relations & Personnel Management) graduate from Hansraj College, Delhi University and hold a Bachelor’s degree in Law (LL.B.) from the Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, Delhi University.  I am also an associate member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ACS). 

 In my free time, I like to play sports and I am an active member of various amateur cricket leagues. I also enjoy travelling, reading (fiction) and take keen interests in the latest international and domestic geopolitical events. I firmly believe that one needs to stay updated on latest legal developments and changing trends in the market place. Hence, attending and participating in various legal seminars enables one to collaborate and share knowledge with peers on the latest legal trends.  

 What does a day in your shoes look like in your current role? 

The situation that we find ourselves in the current day and age has made the role a little more challenging, a little more demanding and a little more interesting. Even before the pandemic turned our lives upside down, the real estate and financial services sector was going through turbulent times.  In such a scenario, one needs to be agile and have his ears to the ground.  A typical day for me starts with a brief team meeting and conduct a stock-taking exercise, followed by pre-scheduled calls with management and business heads. In the current climate, it is not unusual for unanticipated issues to crop up, which would require urgent intervention and resolution. The key aspect is to ensure that legal team is able to provide nuanced advise and guidance to management in order to enable them to take the right decisions.    

What are the three biggest challenges/risks that you are facing right now in your business sector? How in your opinion can these bottlenecks or roadblocks be best handled? 

 In my view, the two biggest challenges are as follows:  

(a) On account of COVID, various remedial measures have been introduced by the government ranging from suspension of new NCLT cases to RBI providing moratorium. While the intention is noteworthy, it should not create a moral hazard and lenders should not be penalised in the process. Regulators, courts and government should also give due credence to the contract which borrowers had signed with the lenders, otherwise we are merely postponing the inevitable. Market should now be allowed to resume normalcy in a graded manner and the various life support systems introduced to aid borrowers, especially the defaulters, on account of COVID systemically withdrawn. 

 (b) Although various amendments and judgements have now been witnessed in the context of insolvency law in India, my view is much is left to be desired, given the uncertainty on account of litigation and resultant delay that is still being seen in resolving insolvency cases. It is very important from the Indian FDI point of view and perceived ease of business, that we are able to achieve certainty and timely closure in the resolution/liquidation process.   

 Are lean legal departments the future of in-house teams? Would you please share your thoughts and vision of CLDs of the future. 

I am a firm believer that size of a CLD should purely be determined by the kind of work and the quantum of work that the CLD has to deliver. The role of the CLDs have drastically changed over the course of last few years. Organisations expects the CLDs to handle more legal work internally ranging from strategy to documentation to deal closure to litigations etc. 

I believe the CLDs of the future will be leaders in an organisation providing the platform for the business to grow and flourish. The CLDs will be required to be more proactive and less dependent on external consultants.     

As companies become more and more cost-conscious, has business automation found more acceptance with in-house legal departments? How does your organisation leverage AI and LegalTech within the legal function? 

We believe technology guided by expert legal minds will be recipe for success in the future. The legal team at Piramal Capital is technology-driven and has excelled in using technology to make optimum & efficient use of human resources. We have implemented an electronic web-based platform that incorporates the complete workflow of the legal process. The platform enables us to provide comments on the term sheets to the documentation stage to various internal legal approvals remotely and electronically. This also acts as the central repository of internal legal documents/information allowing the continuity of business without dependence on any individual. We are also using LegalTech to track our various litigations and dispute resolution proceedings to better utilise our in-house expertise. 

Your message to the new crop of lawyers wanting to make a mark for themselves in this industry. What other than hard work is a mantra to success? 

The mantra of success is very simple – don’t shy away from challenges and take each challenge as an opportunity. Focus on learning and understanding the core business and its nuances that will enable you to provide better legal solutions, mixing the legal needs with business requirements. Being a lawyer may not be enough, you should be able to wear the ‘business hat’ to have a better understanding of issues and its solutions. You should also be mindful of the sector specific developments. The most important advice is learn to ‘switch off’ when required, sleep over it / take a step back and think/strategise afresh. 

 As a final note, would you please recommend to our readers your favourite book or movie/series that left a lasting impression on you. 

Movie – Invictus 

Book – Barbarians at the Gate & Big Billion Startup: The Untold Flipkart Story   

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