Leadership

Mr. Rajiv K Luthra
Founder & Managing Partner
Mr. Luthra received the award for the ‘Visionary – International Transaction Lawyer’ by Former Chief Justice of India, K. G. Balakrishnan and Former Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh.
In 1989-90, Rajiv Luthra founded Luthra and Luthra Law Offices India, which soon grew to be one of the largest firms in India, with a team of over 320 members and 65 Partners.
Over the last three decades, Mr. Luthra has been highly recognized, globally, and is the recipient of several and various accolades, including the honor of being presented by the country’s Hon’ble Prime Minister and Hon’ble Chief Justice. He has been identified as “one of the most highly acclaimed legal experts” in the Asia-Pacific region in the field of Capital Markets & Corporate Finance by Asia Law Leading Lawyers. Lawyer.com has him listed among its top 40 people making the biggest waves outside the UK and Asia Business Legal featured him in “ALB’s Hot 100” in recognition for his contribution to the Capital Markets sector. His expertise range from complex commercial transactions to corporate and civil law issues.
He has led various privatization, disinvestment and restructuring assignments and has spearheaded multiple historic mergers and acquisitions in Indian corporate history.
Mr. Rajiv Luthra takes immense pride in serving his Country. He has enjoyed the privilege of being appointed by the Government of India to various High Level Committees such as, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Advisory Board to the Competition Commission of India (to assist in the framing of general rules and regulations under the Competition Act, 2002), to name a few. Additionally, the Competition Commission of India has also appointed him to the Competition Advocacy Steering Committee – a most prestigious honor and mark of trust.
Mr. Rajiv Luthra attributes his successes to his professionalism and his reliance on equity and justice as cornerstones of his practice. He is the recipient of numerous accolades including:
- ‘Market Leader : Banking & Finance and Corporate’ – IFLR1000 2022
- ‘Eminent Practitioner’ for Corporate/M&A in Chambers & Partners Asia-Pacific 2022 and Chambers & Partners Global 2022
- 'Commended External Counsel' - for his trustworthy and business-centric advice by In-House Community
- The ‘A-List – India’s Top Lawyer 2021’ by India Business Law Journal
- ‘Jai Hind Sammaan’ Award by the Honourable Commissioner of Police
- 'Leader' for Project Finance practice by Who's Who Legal, 2021
- 'Hall of Fame' for Corporate and M&A, India by Legal 500, 2021
- 'Top Managing Partners', by Forbes India Legal Powerlist 2020
- 'Top 35 Legal Icons, India' - India Business Law Journal, 2020
- Managing Partner of the Year’ – LegalEra India Awards 2020
- ‘Managing Partner of the Year’ – ALB India Law Awards 2020
- ‘National Law Day Award’ by the Prime Minister of India
- ‘The Most Promising Business Leader of Asia’ - Economic Times’ Asian Business Leaders Conclave 2016 - Kuala Lumpur.
- ‘International Jurists Award’ by the Attorney-General and Chief Justice of the United Kingdom
- Lifetime Achievement Award” in the International M&A sector” - 4th Annual International M&A Advisor Awards, New York.
- Honoured as “Legend in Indian Corporate Law” and “Ace Legal Eagle for Indian corporate law, specializing in tax, regulatory & compliance laws” - Asian Business Leadership Forum Excellence Awards, Dubai.
- ‘Leading Lawyer’ in the areas of Corporate Law, Capital Markets, Mergers & Acquisitions and Project Finance by Chambers Global, Chambers Asia Pacific, IFLR 1000, AsiaLaw and Asia Pacific Legal 500.
Mr. Luthra had conceived, advised on and presented to the Union Human Resources Development, Government of India, the amendment to the Copyright Act, 1957 on the issue of equal share of royalties to authors and composers, arising from the exploitation of music in India. Appeared and gave evidence before the Standing Committee of the Parliament tasked with reviewing the proposed amendments. The proposed Amendments were passed unanimously by both the Houses of Parliament.
He advises the Planning Commission of India, the Government of India and government-owned corporations including the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines. Additionally, he also advises multinationals such as, ArcelorMittal, AT&T, Bank of America, Emaar, ExxonMobil, Goldman Sachs, Monsanto, MYLAN Pharmaceuticals, Reliance, Rolls Royce, Temasek, The World Bank, and the Blackstone Group among others. He has represented companies and financial institutions for numerous Infrastructure projects in India, Sri Lanka, China and Bangladesh in the Energy, Telecommunications, Airports, Aviation, Inland-ports, Toll-roads & Bridges, Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Oil Refinery sectors.
He has been involved in major transactions including the US$ 4 billion Sun Pharma Ranbaxy merger, and Mylan Inc’s acquisition of Agila Specialties Division from Strides Arcolab.
Rajiv is a regular speaker at numerous law college campuses across the country.
In addition to numerous publications in professional journals and magazines, Mr. Luthra is also a regular commentator in the general news media on legal and economic issues and his articles and opinions frequently appear in publications including the Economic Times, the Business Standard, the New York Times and the Financial Times.
Rajiv has been appointed to the committees of:
- International University of Legal Education and Research – nominated by The Bar Council of India.
- High Level Advisory Group (HLAG): appointed by Commerce Ministry to formulate India’s trade policies.
- High Level Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility- 2018: appointed as a member to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’.
- CII Task Force on Legal Services 2019-20: entrusted with the task to undertake policy advocacy on legal services / legal reforms in the country.
- Convener of the Joint Economic & Trade Committee [JETCO], Ministry of Commerce: between India and the UK, formed to advise the Government of India on the liberalisation of legal services under the General Agreement on Trade in Services [GATS]
- Advisory Board of the Competition Commission of India.
- Competition Advocacy Steering Committee.
- National Competition Policy: An expert panel to formulate the 11th Five Year Plan by Planning Commission of India.
Member on panels of:
- Round Table on Legal Education (a Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, a Government of India initiative).
- Board of Governors of the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru.
- Advisory Board of the National Law University, Jodhpur.
- Advisory Board of BML Munjal University, School of Law.
- City of London Advisory Council for India.
- National Executive Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry [FICCI]
- National Executive Committee of the Confederation of Indian Industry [CII]
- Member of the Governing Body of BML Munjal University
He serves on the Boards of:
- Network18 Media & Investments Limited as an Independent Director
- Singapore International Arbitration Centre [SIAC]
- Symphony International Holdings Limited, a London Stock Exchange listed company
- The DLF Group
He has also been a former member of:
- The Corporate Governance & Audit Committee of the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation(India) [HSBC]
- The Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs [IICA], Ministry of Corporate Affairs
Bars & Courts
- Supreme Court Bar Association
- High Court of Delhi
- Bar Council of Delhi
- International Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Inter-Pacific Bar Association
- International Union des Avocats
Mr. Luthra’s knowledge, experience and an unwavering love for members, brings the Firm together as One! His unparalleled connections with industry stalwarts, luminaries, and government officials have always been a driving force in taking the Firm to greater heights.