In Conversation with Dr Mukul Shastry, General Counsel, Cube Highway

Dr Shastry, you have 20+ years of diverse experience in the legal industry. What were the formative years of your in-house journey like? Did you face any challenges, if so, how did you overcome them?

The journey for these past two decades has been fascinating. I started as a practising lawyer as I belonged to family of lawyers and judges. Then after four years of courtroom practice before Rajasthan High Court, Jaipur, I joined academia. Somehow at that time the research bug had bit me. I wanted to pursue my Ph.D in Trade & Competition law and thought it best to be an academician and pursue research. I joined National Law University, Jodhpur as Asst. Professor and spent around three and half years teaching brilliant young minds and learning from them the art of teaching as well as subtleties of law. Post completion of my Ph.D. and stint as academician, I wrote RBI – Legal Officer - all India examination, 2009 and topped the same. I became a central banker and spent half decade in the great institution learning about how a central bank thinks and the regulatory framework and processes. During this stint at RBI, something inside urged me to do an MBA to learn the nuances of finance and economics. So, I did MBA from IIM Ahmedabad (PGPX – one-year full-time course) and post-graduation campus placed at KEC International as Chief Manager (Law). That was my first stint in corporate and heading a legal division. After spending a decade in various corporates such as RPG group, Adani and Welspun, currently, I have reached the stage of joining Cube Highways group (one of India’s leading road infra platforms) as the group’s General Counsel. 

My journey was such that while I reached the state of joining as in-house counsel at KEC International (RPG group), I had varied experience of litigation, academics, and central banking. Therefore, I was always treated as an expert in certain areas and my peers looked up to me to deliver solutions to complex business problems. That initial period as in-house was most challenging as I had to live up to the expectation almost all the time. Nonetheless, I always backed up my abilities and tried to step up to give my level best to meet up the challenges presented.

What is your team size and what is the array of work you handle in your organisation?

I am the General Counsel and there are five departments that fall under the GC Suite. A diagrammatic representation is given hereinunder:

The GC is primarily responsible for strategic legal advise, compliance, ethics, investigation, contract, claims management and risk management. The total team size of the GC Suite is around 30.

How do you foresee the role of a General Counsel evolving in the near future?

With the growth of technology, artificial learning, platforms like chatGPT and importantly shrinking of world boundaries, the role of GC has already attained strategic importance. The evolution of this role in the near future would be to adapt itself to respond to the complexities of the varied regulatory framework, the blurring boundaries between compliant and non-compliant business practices and a large focus on being an ethically and environment conscience business. 

The days are long gone when GC was there to devise only litigation strategies. The board needs guidance to traverse through the complex path to ensure that business decisions lead to profitable and sustainable business. 

GCs of the future must tread the razor-sharp path of being business facilitators by remaining cost-conscious, and tech-savvy, usage of innovation in legal technology along with being the conscience keeper. 

What are the top challenges in terms of board management and governance in 2023? 

The top challenges come from the constantly changing technological space and accordingly changes in regulation. The year 2023 can see many new legislations like Digital India Act etc., thus it would require corporates to make mandatory changes in the way they are functioning. The Boards thus should develop processes for information architecture, handle the complex ESG framework and manage the expectations of various shareholders. The GC has an important role to play in ensuring that the Boards are agile and open to necessary changes. 

What are the compliances unique to your sector? 

We primarily are a Private Equity platform which is into road infrastructure and transport. We have investors who are sovereign funds, and they have requirements of robust practices towards anti-bribery and anti-corruption. We, therefore, constantly need to revise our frameworks, and SOPs invest in training to ensure that our interests are protected. Another big challenge towards compliance is the regulatory requirements. Infrastructure being a heavily regulated sector, the compliances in addition to regular SEBI, and RBI rules also are towards Concession Agreement, safety, town planning, environmental, pollution control, PESO etc. 

As our touchpoints towards government official increases, the compliance towards FCPA and ABAC regime goes up as mandated by the investors. 

There are voices within the GC community advocating the pressing need for the recognition of General Counsels as legal practitioners. Your thoughts

It is high time that GCs must be recognized as legal practitioners. In my opinion, there are twofold arguments in favour of GC being accorded the legal practitioner recognition.

Firstly, this will enhance the pool of qualified and experienced practitioners even for the Bench. The country at present is struggling with both quantity and quality of judges, and I feel the GC community can be the one who could provide alternatives. If GCs are treated at par with legal practitioners, the GCs of large conglomerates could be a potential pool of talent to be elevated to the bench. GC on the bench would not only bring diversity, but the business savvy outlook could shape up the legal landscape which may have a wide-ranging impact. Like GCs who have been with technology behemoths or infra giants or pharma heavyweights etc. could bring a such perspective which even senior counsels with many years of experience may not possess. 

Secondly, extending the advantage of privileges available to lawyers to GC, would help in a more meaningful, stress-free conversation between GC and the business colleagues. This free-wheeling conversation would help GC advise strategically his/her business colleagues and it would help in corporates arrive at right decisions. The current scenario where GC doesn’t have any privilege protection, GC avoid engaging in risky conversations. This leads to sullied advice to business teams generally which is of no value add to them. 

So, on both counts, whether to give the corporates a fair chance to address the problems they face and to ensure that there is larger pool of qualified and experienced professionals available from where to choose for the benches, GCs should be treated at par with the legal practitioners by making necessary amendments in Advocates Act, 1961.

What would be your message to aspiring and young in-house Counsel? What are the traits that make a successful General Counsel?

Never settle and constantly motivate yourself to ensure that the fire in your belly doesn’t die down. There is no destination in life, it is only a journey. Keep travelling and never hang up your boots. 

'Musafir hoon yaaro na ghar hain a thikana, bas chalte jana hai, chalte jana…’ This is my mantra in life.

Three traits that I have learnt to be a successful leader:

1. Help the team, peers and seniors as much as you can. Even if that means going beyond the four corners of your scope of work.
2. Raise hands for any and all challenges. Don’t shy away. 
3. Never bad mouth anyone, even in jest. Always behave as if a thousand eyes are watching you all the time. 

If the youngsters follow the above talismans, I don’t see any reason why they will not be successful in their chosen path.