Dr Mitra, before I ask my first question, I have to say you are one of the warmest, pleasant, and down-to-earth personalities I have had the good fortune of interviewing. 

You joined GAIL in 1991 and are now the Executive Director heading the Legal as well as the Human Resource wing of the organisation. Please tell us where did this illustrious journey begin and at what age did you decide to study law. Please walk us through your early years of education and the decision of becoming a General Counsel.

Thank You, that is quite kind of you to say. Your words warmed my heart. I completed my 2 years full-time MBA in the year 1983 from Calcutta University, specializing in Human Resource Management. Further, I decided to take up a role in Industrial Relations (IR) in a labour-intensive industry. Accordingly, with time I figured that this role also necessitates legal bent of mind, preferably equipped with legal qualification and knowledge.

Ultimately, that prompted me to acquire my legal qualification, and I did LL.B in the year 1988 from Calcutta University. Thereafter, GAIL provided me with the opportunity to acquire professional experience in the field of law. Over the years, dealing with the legal challenges faced by the company, I derived a passion for higher legal education especially in the field of Corporate Laws and ADR. Accordingly, I decided to acquire a Post Graduate Degree in Law in the year 2017. Furthermore, my passion for Arbitration and Conciliation inspired me to pursue my second doctorate in Law (Award of Degree awaited by the University) despite having a Doctorate Degree in Management.   

What to your mind has helped you get to where you are and what advice would you have for others who want to set off in a similar direction?

Attributes like commitment towards work and ownership have always kept me going. As In-house General Counsel, we face ethical and professional challenges with the rise of organisation and variations of prospects that are embedded in the business. The advice I would like to share is that one should have keen eyes and clear thought process to recognize your role & responsibility, proper distinction between business advice and legal advice, maintaining ethics and handling pressure with utter calm and composed attitude like a good leader, ready for additional responsibilities, and working together successfully as a team.

A follow-up to the previous question: Sir, as you also head the HR function at GAIL, would you please guide our readers on the ways to seek employment with PSUs. Does GAIL hire CLAT qualifiers for various posts? What are these job profiles and how can lawyers interested in making a shift to PSUs prepare for these interviews?

PSUs in India follow a different procedure of recruitment. Though GAIL does not have the criteria to hire CLAT qualifiers yet, hiring through CLAT  is into consideration. Currently, GAIL hires legal professionals through two modes: 

a) Campus Recruitment 

b) Open recruitment.

The job profiles under Law Department vary starting from Executive Trainees to other induction levels. For someone interested in joining PSUs as in-house legal counsel is advised to have sound legal knowledge as well as good project management skills.

In your long career, while you must have faced so many hurdles, is there any incident that you found particularly challenging to handle? How did you power through the problem?

There were many such instances. Like a river cuts through rocks with persistence, I also believed in myself and persistently made efforts to power through such problems. Some of such unfortunate events were:

1. On June 27, 2014 a massive fire incident occurred in 18” size underground gas pipeline along our Tatipaka-Kondalpalli natural gas pipeline in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The event turned out to be one of the most challenging events for the Company. But with much compassion, integrity and consistent efforts, the issue has been effectively handled.
2. Settlement of various High-Stake Cases. Where stake of Thousands of Crores was in question.
3. Settlement of highest stake AGR issue of GAIL.

Other than work, what else keeps you busy? Would you please share your other interests and hobbies with our readers?

Other than work, I like to engage in reading, doing research on various topics to update my knowledge and networking with other professionals. Nonetheless, I ensure to take out some time for my fitness as well.

Would you please recommend to our readers your favourite book or movie/series that left a lasting impression on you?

My favourite movies are “Tarre zameen par” and “3 idiots”.

The book that left a lasting impression on me is “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie.

Coming back to your current assignment, would you please tell us more about the array of work you handle at GAIL. What is your in-house team size, and would you please allow us a little peek into your routine at work?

I am heading Law and HR department with a team size of approx. 25 and 10 professionals respectively at Corporate Level. Under Law department, leading a team of experienced and highly qualified legal professionals in Corporate office and Regional/ site offices for dealing with all legal issues including high stake litigations, Legal compliances and RTI issues.

Under HR Department, I am leading a team of experienced and highly qualified HR professionals dealing in Policy Matters, Employee Relations, Labour Laws Compliance, Disciplinary Matters, Social Security Benefits etc. 

I usually like to plan my day ahead. In addition to the records maintained by my secretary, I like to maintain a diary of my own for better discipline. Preparations made beforehand help me stay updated and provide justice to my work. 

As soon as I get up in the morning, I go through my emails and the daily cause list (prepared and shared by team daily). At work, I like to discuss with the team about various ongoing issues, steps required to be taken ahead for the protection of the company’s interest, with the most important intent of faster resolution. Later in the day, I often meet all the members of my team, listen to them and chew the fat with them, which helps all these hard-working minds to relax and bond well with one another. I also like to meet other professionals to enhance my knowledge and scope of work.

I love my work and make sure I fulfil my duties with full enthusiasm and passion 

What in your opinion has been the biggest change or challenge in the legal operations of in-house legal departments amid COVID-19? 

With the unfortunate spread of Corona Virus, there came various changes and challenges in the way of legal operations of in-house legal departments. The biggest challenge or change is the entire shift of work from physical files to e-notesheets. Further, keeping and maintaining the softcopies of the pleadings and critical documents. However, fortunately in GAIL, the system and processes have been made so robust and the digitisation was introduced way back to explore the potential of technology, therefore, the pandemic had no adverse effect on the functioning of the department.

Also, due to volatility of business operations worldwide due to COVID-19, various disputes at International level have cropped up during the recent past resulting into arbitration as well. Thus, the pandemic has definitely increased the overall workload of in-house counsels.

How are state-owned enterprises dealing with the shift in the legal landscape from traditional working methods to cloud-based offices and an accelerated interaction with technology?

Honestly for our organization it has not been that difficult as the requisite digitalized infrastructure was already in place. Nevertheless, no change ever is easy. But changes are part of life. The sooner the change is adapted the better they turn out to be. Embracing technology replacing the traditional working methods, i.e., replacing movement of file note sheets with E-note sheets, replacing physical meetings with virtual meetings etc., are turning out to be good for the Company. Professionals are switching to cloud-based offices without any discomfort, and the results are actually adding new value to the integrity of the Organisations. 

In GAIL, we have already leveraged the technology for smooth and efficient working. Online tools like Litigation Management System and Legal Compliance Management System have been developed with the help of an internal IT team for the management of litigations and statutory compliances in a most efficient manner. 

What has been your strategy to cope with these changes?

The strategy is to keep exploring the technological changes and to adopt them to facilitate the smooth functioning of regular assignments to utilise them to the utmost level for the protection/ benefit of the Company. 

The online systems developed in-house (as stated above) have helped tremendously in managing the work. Litigation Management System helps in managing the litigation data and generation of customised MIS reports immediately as and when required. Further, under Legal Compliance Management System, various Nodal officers in the company have been mapped along with the statutory compliances that they are required to comply with to ensure zero non-compliance of applicable laws.

Can you tell us about GAIL’s start-up initiative ‘Pankh’ and its plans to invest in startups in the compressed biogas space?

GAIL had launched its ambitious Start-Up initiative ‘Pankh’ in July’ 2017 to invest in promising Start-ups. GAIL has created a corpus of ₹ 50 Crores to be invested in Start-Ups to support the Government of India (GoI) Start-Up initiative and to generate long term commercial benefits. GAIL’s mission for Start-Up Initiative is to Identify, Invest and Nurture Start-Ups that can become successful companies in the long run and provide profitable returns from this diversification.

Since India has vast Biomass resources and the Government is giving special emphasis on its gainful utilization by encouraging setting-up of Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plants, GAIL plans to invest in Start-Ups operating in this upcoming Area. A new Round has been opened by GAIL for solicitation of Investment Proposals from Start-Ups operating specifically in the Area of CBG. 

From an industrial standpoint, what are the implications of the suspension of sections 7, 9 and 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) during the pandemic? 

No application for Corporate insolvency resolution process can be initiated by financial creditors, operational creditors and the Company during the applicability of Section 10 A of IBC. 

Section 10A has been introduced recently vide an ordinance wherein the applicability of Section 7, 9 and 10 has been suspended for the period of 6 months from March 25, 2020. The said period of six months may also be extended for further period of six months, i.e., up to  March 25, 2021. The implication of this amendment is that no new cases of Insolvency can be brought during the applicability of this provision. Due to the pandemic and resulting lockdown, there is a depression in the economic activity of the country, which may lead to new cases of Bankruptcy against the defaulting companies especially the small and medium size enterprises. Thus, Section 10A will definitely help them overcome the immediate hurdle and allow them some breathing space to recover.

Still, there is a need that suitable code of conduct for the Directors of these defaulting companies be formulated and made binding so that there is transparency in the functioning and also to avoid any further instance of mismanagement. If the checks and balances are not formulated sooner, then the interim remedy provided by Section 10A may not result in the much-needed revival of the economic activity in the country, as the new code could be misused.

What is the biggest challenge in the legal industry at the moment? What are the most critical changes that we must make to face the future effectively? 

It has been observed that people mostly criticise about the expensive and long-drawn dispute resolution process prevalent in the country. Though various statutory enactments/ amendments have been made, including the enactment of Commercial Courts Act, IBC, amendments in the Arbitration law, etc., still the pendency and the expensive nature of the process has not been remedied till date. As per my view, the only possible solution is to avoid adversarial mode of settlement and to adopt a well-structured Conciliation mechanism for the settlement of disputes as far as possible. Conciliation surely ensures cost-effective and time-bound solution along with bringing finality to the dispute with a WIN-WIN approach.

Another challenge to my mind is lack of proper brainstorming before the initiation of dispute and also before challenging any decision. It is important for the organisations to adopt a Litigation Policy so as to have clear cut guidelines relating to the handling of disputes. It is also high time to perform a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of the method and the mechanism with regards to handling of disputes that are blindly adopted without paying heed to the nature of dispute etc. There is a general tendency to challenge the decision until all the options available to the party gets exhausted. Thus, every dispute must be carefully reviewed internally to determine what mechanism would be most suitable after carrying out the SWOT analysis. Only after such careful analysis, the decision needs to be taken to adopt the most suitable mechanism for its resolution.

Also, one more challenge is the attraction and retention of talent. The era of corporate lawyers has completely changed. We now require young law professionals with a mindset of business as compared to that of traditional lawyers so that they can see their functions and responsibilities not only within the legal context but also in terms of the needs of their respective organizations. These days companies need legal personnel not to resolve legal issues but to support their business development efforts. They are expected to be fully updated, along with the standard deep level of legal knowledge, have additional training and expertise in the areas of business, technology and project management.

Further, the percentage of law students has increased exponentially during the last two-three decades, especially after the emergence of the corporate legal sector. Though the demand and recognition of law professionals have also increased over the years; however, it is still seen that the high paying jobs and campus placements are focused towards the students of elite law schools. 

Also, the current pandemic situation has intensified the overall challenges in the legal sector. Thus, the critical changes which can be adopted are: 

• Innovative and strategic thinking by legal professionals
• Suitable modification in the present laws and regulations to ensure better recognition and professional prospects.
• Legal professionals should maintain high ethical conduct while dealing with their clients so as to maintain the integrity and respect of the profession.
• Should be vigilant while charging the professional fees from the client.
• Maintain a strategic pace of redressal and prioritize goodwill.
• Lessons from pandemic downturn will help legal professionals respond to near-term challenges and also help to set the right priorities for the long run.  

Is there anything you’d like to share with our lawyers of the future, any golden piece of advice from the treasure trove of your experiences in the industry?

Youngsters these days are smart and talented, with a little push and guidance they achieve whatever they desire for. As I already said, in-house counsels face ethical and professional challenges with the rise of organization, therefore they should develop an attitude of commitment, ownership and hard work. 

Negotiate. Mediate. Litigate. What’s your take on the dispute resolution mechanism in India, ADR (alternative dispute resolution) and the potential of ODR (online dispute resolution).

Definitely negotiate and mediate, but never litigate. Litigation is a WIN-LOSE opportunity, wherein only one party to the dispute can gain the fruits of long drawn court/ arbitration proceedings and the other party is always left to criticize the decision. Litigations often lead to broken relationships between the disputing parties, which is absolutely detrimental to the growth of any organization.

No commercial organization can grow if they keep on fighting against their stakeholders. Thus, the only solution is to negotiate, mediate and conciliate the disputes as far as possible so as to amicably settle with minimum cost and time to ensure finality of the dispute and protect business relationship. 

Considering the pandemic situation, wherein social distancing is a mandate for each one of us, online dispute resolution is the only option available to keep the system into motion. Although, it has been felt that online hearings have brought more efficiency as compared to the physical hearing, wherein you are actually saved from unnecessary travel and lavish arrangements. The parties remain more focused towards the discussion of the subject rather than considering about the extraneous issues. There is a need to remain more tech-savvy to make use of the technology in a more fruitful manner, which can be utilized even post pandemic conditions as well. 

On a final note, would you please share a few words with our viewers to keep them motivated during these harsh times.

It was my pleasure madam. Tough times don’t last but tough people do. And we need to survive plus thrive successfully in 2020 and even beyond. As it’s aptly said “it might be stormy now, but rain doesn’t last forever.” Stay calm, stay protected, stay strong, follow WHO guidelines, things will get better soon.

Thank you Dr. Mitra for answering all our questions.