Hon’ble Justice Shri M.M. Kumar has over 40 years of experience in the legal field, first as an Advocate at the Bar and later as a Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court and Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court. and then as the Founder President of the National Company Law Tribunal.  He authored a book titled “Control of Exclusion Clauses in England and India” in 1985. He had worked as Part time Faculty at the Department of Law. He was elected as Vice-President of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association for 1991-92 and later appointed as Additional Advocate General (Punjab) in October 1995.He had worked as a Guest Faculty at the Department of Law, Punjab University, Chandigarh from 1984-90 and Visiting Professor of Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (RGNLU), Patiala. He has made significant contribution to build the Chandigarh Judicial Academy and the Rajiv Gandhi National Law University Patiala. Hon’ble Justice Shri M.M. Kumar has qualified his LL.B from Punjabi University, Patiala in the year 1977. He has done LLM also in 1981 from University of Birmingham.

After retirement Justice Kumar conducted a number of commercial arbitrations which included the cases referred by Honle the Supreme Court and the High Courts.

CS Pawan G Chandak is a qualified Company Secretary with specialization in Labour Laws and Labour welfare. He is the founder partner of M/s KPRC & Associates with footprints all over India. He has varied experience in the fields of Corporate Law, Foreign Exchange Law, Industrial Law, Legal Metrology, Secretarial Audit, Arbitration matters, SEZ, STPI, EOUs and DOT.

He has worked with large corporate houses and MNCs in the capacity of Independent Director and Advisor and has a deep understanding of the challenges and issues surrounding his areas of expertise which includes handling and advising on corporate legal matters, deal structuring and merger-amalgamations.

CS Pawan G Chandak has been serving the ICSI in different capacities for last many years. He served as the Vice President of the ICSI for the year 2025. Before being elected to the Central Council of ICSI for the term 2023-2026, CS Pawan G Chandak was elected to the Western India Regional Council (WIRC) of ICSI for the term 2019-2022 and served as Secretary of the Region in 2019, Vice-Chairman in 2020 and Chairman of WIRC ICSI in the year 2021. Prior to that he served as the Chairman of the Pune Chapter of WIRC of ICSI in 2012 and 2017.

He is a hands-on-leader with a proven track record of over 20 years in guiding organizations in corporate and allied laws, managing risks, rolling-out new systems and improving operational efficiency and effectiveness.

Dr. Ashok Kumar Mishra, is having more than 40 years of extensive professional experience across various levels of Central (Federal) and State governments including quasi-government entities in accounting, financing, contract management, liaising and legal domains. 

Dr. Mishra retired in 2023 from the role of Technical Member of National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Principal Bench, New Delhi on elevation from Technical Member, NCLT, Bangalore. 

Dr. Mishra is the Government of India Nominee to the Central Council of The Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He is serving as an Independent Director on the Board of ICAI Registered Valuers Organization. Also, he is the Distinguished Fellow Member of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

He has Corporate experience as Director Finance (CFO) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (Indian state-owned Aerospace and Defense company). He is the Member of various International and Inter-governmental Committees for large defense contracts involving in-person negotiations across governmental and private entities in USA, UK, France, Japan, Russia and Malaysia.

Part-Time Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) and Professor of Finance

Prof. Gourav Vallabh is a seasoned academician, financial expert, and public policy contributor with over twenty-five (25) years of experience spanning teaching, research, consulting, and institution building. A Certified Financial Risk Manager (GARP, USA), he is a Fellow of the Lok Sabha, a Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, and holds a Ph.D., LL.B., and M.Com. (Gold Medalist). Currently Professor of Finance at XLRI, he has served as Director (ICAI) and Senior Professor in academic institutions of repute.

He has held several key roles in public policy and governance, serving as an Independent Director on the Board of many listed companies, a Visitor’s Nominee at Banaras Hindu University (2015–17), and a Board Member of the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal. Served as a member of NITI Aayog’s Transforming India’s Gold Market Task Force (2018), which authored the landmark report shaping India’s gold policy reforms. He was nominated as a Domain Expert in the Task Force on MoUs by the Department of Public Enterprises and served on the Expert Appraisal Committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. Additionally, he contributed as a member of the Editorial and Expert Advisory Boards of ICSI and ICAI. He served as an advisor to the Government of Rajasthan from 2005 to 2008 on land revenue administration and land reforms.

Prof. Vallabh has authored two books and published over 50 research papers in peer-reviewed journals. He has also presented papers and chaired sessions at numerous national and international conferences. He was awarded the “Best Young Researcher Award” (2004) by ICWAI & IAA, and has won several best paper awards at academic conferences.

He is a frequent speaker at forums organized by various Government Ministries, IIMs, RBI, ICAI, ICSI, FICCI, CII, and other leading institutions. A prolific writer and commentator on economic and social issues, he has authored over 400 editorial pieces in prominent newspapers and regularly appears on major national television channels.

He has undertaken major consultancy assignments for the Reserve Bank of India, the Education Ministry, and the Bank of Baroda, among others. He has also conducted over 300 in-company training programs for senior executives of Central and State Governments, Corporates, PSUs, and NGOs on Forensic Accounting, Corporate Finance, IFRSs, BASEL Norms, Cost management, risk-based pricing and supervision, etc. 

Beyond academia, he has contributed to public sector reforms, SSA improvements, and SEZ policy. He has been a subject expert on panels for the Ministry of Urban Development, State Bank of India, and PSCs. He brings a rare combination of academic depth, industry insight, policy experience, and political understanding, with a keen interest in financial sector reforms, public finance, inclusive growth, and economic governance.

CS Dwarakanath Chennur, a Fellow Member of the ICSI, is a B.Com. Graduate from Sri Venkateswara University, and LLB-Special from Gulbarga University. He is also an Insolvency Professional and an empanelled Social Auditor.

Having started his career as a Company Secretary in the year 1992, he worked for different Companies for nearly 10 years, before taking up practice in the year 2002. Presently, he renders services to various private & public companies, including listed and subsidiary of foreign companies, under Companies Act, FEMA, RBI Regulations, and SEBI Regulations. His area of expertise includes Corporate Laws and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. 

CS Dwarakanath Chennur has served the ICSI as Chairman of the Regulations & Elections Reforms Committee in the year 2025, PCS Committee in the year 2024 and Peer Review Committee in the year 2023. Before being elected to Central Council of the ICSI for the term 2023-2026, he was a Member of Secretarial Standards Board, ICSI for the year 2019 & 2020. Prior to that he served the Southern India Regional Council (SIRC) of the ICSI for the term 2011-2014 and was the Chairman of the SIRC of ICSI in 2013. He was elected to the Managing Committee of Bangalore Chapter of ICSI for two consecutive terms in 2004-2006 and 2007-2010, and served as the Chairman, Bangalore Chapter for the year 2008.

He has also been conferred the title “VIDYA VIKAS”, recognizing his excellent service in the field of education by Dr. D.G. Shetty Educational Society, Dharwad in the year 2014.

CS Manish Gupta, a fellow member of the ICSI, CS Manish Gupta is a Law Graduate and has a Master’s Degree in Commerce. He has been associated with the profession for the last 22 years, as a Practicing Company Secretary. 

He was elected as the President - The ICSI for the year 2023 after being re-elected to the Central Council of the ICSI for the period 2023-2026. He was previously elected for the term 2019-2022 wherein he served as the Chairman on several Committees during the four years and as the Vice-President of the ICSI for the year 2022. 

He was elected to the NIRC-ICSI for two consecutive terms in 2011-2014 and 2015-2018 and was unanimously elected as the Chairman of NIRC of ICSI for the year 2016.

CS Manish Gupta is a registered Insolvency Professional with the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Board of India and is empaneled as an Arbitrator with both BSE and NSE. He is also empaneled as Mediator/Conciliator under the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 with various Regional Directors. 

He specializes in handling complex assignments on Corporate Laws, Securities Laws, and Taxation Laws and is also a regular speaker at training programmes, seminars, and conferences.