About

Leading a team of 16 lawyers and two non-legal support staff, Priya Mehra Dewan is the general counsel of low cost Indian airline InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo), which occupies a dominant position in the market as the largest airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size. Operating under a structure of a ‘high degree of independence’, according to Dewan, the entire team of in-house lawyers are excellent having honed their talents in to-tier Indian law firms however there are nevertheless some key team members highlighted by Dewan. Associate general counsel Akshay Nagpal is responsible for managing a small team of approximately four lawyers working on varied on engineering, regulatory and crew training matters. Rahul Kumar is another associate general counsel, and is responsible for litigation matters across a variety of disputes including criminal, civil, consumer, anti-trust and regulatory issues from time to time. Bharat Vansh Bahadur – principal legal counsel manages a team of approximately four members who assist him on matters relating to airport operations, human resources, aircraft leasing and other special transactions undertaken by IndiGo. Sarah Jayne Rufus as principal legal counsel, manages a team of approximately three members and primarily focusses on matters relating to our aircraft acquisition and financing business as well as on engine and other maintenance contracts. The team has had to keep pace with ‘rapid growth and expansion’ that the business is setting, requiring the ‘bolstering’ of the legal team to have the necessary legal resources for all transactions, and has been created with the mind-set of providing service ‘akin to an international law firm, delivering cutting edge advice and documents and thereby reducing reliance on external counsel’. This has paid off as it has been involved in several important transactions including the purchase of 50 ATR 72-600 in a deal valued at over $1.3bn (handled entirely by the in-house legal team with no assistance from any external law firm). ‘Personality and creativity brings productivity and efficiency. We believe that this ethos is perpetuated by senior members of the team and flows down to each member of the team. We believe in creating an atmosphere where team members constantly challenge each other to be innovative in their approach. This mix of both professionalism and camaraderie sets apart IndiGo’s legal team’ Dewan states.