OUR TEAM

PEOPLE

MUMBAI

Bharat Agarwal
Founder & Managing Partner
B.com from Mumbai University, a qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Law Graduate from Mumbai University and winner of Kinloch Forbes Gold Medal.
Bharat is a Founder Partner of the firm. He started his career in 1997 as a practicing Chartered Accountant and specialised in handling Income Tax Litigation before various forums like Authority for Advance Ruling, Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Income Tax Settlement Commission. Obtained LLB degree in 2010 from Mumbai University and was awarded “Kinloch Forbes Gold Medal”. He subsequently surrendered the ICAI “certificate of practice” and obtained Sanad from the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa under the Advocates Act. Since then he has been appearing before various courts and forums handling a gamut of laws. Now he specialises in structuring of real estate deals with special focus on tax and due diligence of title of property.

He is academically inclined and has authored 2 books; one on Service Tax and another co authored with Ritika Agarwal on Prevention of Money Laundering Act. He is a regular contributor of articles to various legal magazines. He is also a visiting lecturer for various organisations and have delivered lectures at ICAI and Dr. D Y Patil College of Law, Navi Mumbai. He is a member of Chamber of Income Tax Consultants (CITC) and Bombay Chartered Accountants Society (BCAS) and ITAT Bar Association.
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RITIKA AGARWAL
Founder & Senior Partner
B.Com (H) from Delhi University, a qualified Chartered Accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Law Graduate from Mumbai University.
She co-founded the firm with Bharat Agarwal and is now Senior Partner of the firm. She started as a practicing Chartered Accountant in 1995. She was trained under her illustrious father, followed his footsteps and took to Income Tax litigation practice. She has appeared before Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), Income Tax Settlement Commission and Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. She has also successfully completed course on "International Taxation". Most of the cases argued by her have been reported in various tax journals. She completed her LLB degree in 2010 from Mumbai University and obtained Sanad from Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa in 2011. Since then she has been appearing before Mumbai High Court in Company Law, Tax and property matters as also appearance in income tax search and seizure matters before Commissioner (Appeals), ITAT, Income Tax Settlement Commission and Bombay High Court
  • Company Law matters before Bombay High Court
  • Disputes related to land laws viz. MRTP, MLRC and BTAL Before Bombay High Court
  • Preparation and drafting of submissions and appeals under the Income Tax Act and Companies Act
  • Preparation of appeals, notice of motion and caveats before High Court
  • Appearance in suits relating to land laws before Civil Courts
  • Drafting of submissions before the Civil Courts, MRT and Revenue Minister
  • Appeals under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996

She has appeared as guest lecturer in the subject of income tax before the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management and D.Y Patil Law College. She has also rendered refresher lecture on latest case laws in income tax to the officers of the income tax department. She has authored various articles and co-authored a book of money laundering alongwith Bharat Agarwal. She heads the Litigation department of the firm.
She is a member of Bombay Chartered Accountants Society (BCAS), ITAT Bar Association
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Sneha Sarbhushan
Senior Associate (Transactions)
Sneha is a Chartered Accountant and a Law graduate from Mumbai University. She has obtained her Sanad from the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa and is practising as an advocate before the Bombay High Court.
She started her career as a trainee with the firm in January, 2011 and has been involved in structuring of land deals for real estate developers and drafts deal documents with focus on reducing the transaction cost for the parties involved. She has been contributing articles to various tax magazines and delivers lectures on tax issues regularly. She also handles Income Tax, Service Tax, GST litigations including writ petitions before the Bombay High Court. She has successfully obtained a certificate from Foundation of International Taxation for course on "International Taxation".
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Girish Mhatre
Senior Associate (Transactions)
Girish started his career as an intern with Acelegal. He completed his BLS LLB in year 2018 from University of Mumbai and has achieved Masters of Law in Constitutional Law. He holds a Sanad from the Bar Council of India. He is handling various land related issue such as Land Title Search, Real Estate Documentation and appearance before RERA Authority & different courts. He is actively involved in structuring of real estate deals and documentation.
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Ananya Agarwal
Associate (Transactions)
A recent BBA LLB (Hons.) graduate from Symbiosis Law School Pune, Ananya Agarwal is working as an Associate in the transactional wing. She specialises in real estate law aiding the team in documentation and deal negotiating. She also works in the sphere of intellectual property law and has successfully completed a Diploma in Intellectual Property Laws and Entertainment Law from LawSikho. She is a fierce negotiator and has represented India in global competitions such as the Negotiation Challenge, 2023, Italy.
Shweta Varma
Associate (Transactions)
Shweta graduated from the University of Mumbai in the 2021 with a BLS-LLB degree. She is an accomplished and skilled Real Estate lawyer with an overall experience of 2 years in litigation and non-litigation. She started her career with the firm as a Junior Associate in the non-litigation team with special focus on Real Estate Law and regularly assists the Partner and Senior Associates in Residential and Commercial Transactions, Property Development, Construction planning, Structuring and Restructuring of land deals, carrying out title examination, Due diligence of the property, Drafting of various property related documents, Companies title examination, Drafting of Real Estate as well as Litigation Court documents. She comprehensively works on CIDCO and MIDC land projects.
Ayesha Ansari
Associate (Litigation)
Ayesha has done her Bachelors in Commerce from Sydenham college, Mumbai University in the year 2019 and law from Law Centre-1, Delhi University in the year 2022. She has also done Diploma in international Contract drafting, negotiation & enforcement from Lawsikho. She has joined the firm in February, 2023 as an Associate in Litigation team. She is handling matters pertaining to Taxation laws and Real estate law in the firm. She has appeared before RERA forums, CESTAT, and Hon’ble High court of Bombay.
Sandesh Salunkhe
Associate (Litigation)
Sandesh earned his bachelor's degree from the field of Information Technology from the University of Mumbai. Later, he pursued LL. B. from University of Mumbai. He has also pursued LL. M. in Constitutional Law from Ajeenkya DY Patil University, Pune securing 7.29 CGPA and obtained various other certifications in similar fields of law. At Acelegal, he has represented matters pertaining to Real Estate and Income Tax in the High Court and appeared before various other fora. His approach is characterized by empathy, integrity, and a commitment to achieving the best possible outcomes.

DELHI

Akarsh Garg
Associate Partner
Akarsh specializes in Direct and Indirect Tax Litigation and Supreme Court Litigation. He undertakes a range of contentious work on behalf of domestic and foreign corporations, representing them before various fora. 
He is adept at handling a variety of commercial disputes, particularly in the areas of telecom, building and construction, Prevention of Money Laundering disputes, and financial services. He is also among the very few advocates/professionals who expertise and practice in Income Tax Settlement Commission.
Akarsh completed his law degree from Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in 2009. Prior to joining Acelegal, he has experience of handling Supreme Court Litigation since 2012 and has been part of team handling various taxation disputes both Direct and Indirect Tax, Telecom Disputes, Petroleum and Natural Gas Disputes, Regulatory and Policy matters.
Akarsh has appeared and argued before various fora including Supreme Court of India, High Courts, District Courts, Income Tax Settlement Commission, ITAT, CESTAT, PMLA, PNGRB, APTEL, ERCs, NGT, Arbitral Tribunal and various other Tribunals/Authorities. Akarsh has also advised and has given legal opinions to various clients including MNCs, big Indian business houses and High Net-Worth Individuals. 
He is registered with the Bar Council of Delhi and is a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Delhi High Court Bar Association, Income Tax Appellate Tribunal Bar Association.
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Mansi Jain Garg
Associate Partner
Mansi specializes in Commercial Mediation and Resolution of Family disputes. She is based in Delhi and has over 10 years of experience in Mediation, resolution of family disputes and drafting and vetting of contract especially relating to media laws. Prior to joining Acelegal, Mansi has worked with Neo Juris. 
Mansi has a master’s degree in Business Laws from the Kurukshetra University. 
She has facilitated mediation in variety of disputes relating to commercial contracts, family succession and even divorce matters amongst many others. She has also advised on various aspects of commercial laws and led a number of legal due diligences across various sectors. 
She is registered with the Bar Council of Delhi.
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