Advocate Bharat Chugh

Mr. Bharat graduated in law in 2011 and practiced independently as a litigator for about two years. In 2013, at the age of 23, he secured the 1st rank in the prestigious Delhi Judicial Service examination and joined as the youngest Civil Judge/Metropolitan Magistrate in his batch. Bharat trained at the Delhi and the National Judicial Academies and served in various civil/criminal assignments in three and half years of judgeship. In 2016, at the age of 27, he resigned from judgeship to return to the practice of law. As a Partner at L&L Partners (2016-2020), Bharat advised and represented clients on a wide range of issues with a strong focus on International Commercial Arbitration, Complex Contractual/Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property Laws, Social-Media/Privacy law, Private International Law, MLATs, Extradition and issues relating to Cyber-Crime & Intermediary liability, amongst others. He currently serves as a member and represents India at Young SIAC (Singapore International Arbitration Centre) committee. Bharat has also assisted the Delhi International Arbitration Centre (annexed to the Delhi High Court) in revising and streamlining its arbitration rules. He also has a keen interest in academia and is a resource person at various academies and has trained hundreds of serving and retired IPS officers, judges, prosecutors, investigators, arbitrators, company secretaries - from across the country. He has delivered talks, conducted seminars/training programs and participated in panel discussions organized by: ASSOCHAM, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”), Delhi Judicial Academy, J&K Judicial Academy, National Police Academy (Hyd.), Delhi Police Academy, HIPA (Gurugram), Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Centre for Criminology and Victimology, Legal Services Authorities, IIHS, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Law Schools & the ICSE, amongst others. He’s spoken on various aspects of arbitration law, tech law, electronic evidence, cyber and white-collar crimes. He was also appointed as amicus curiae and went on to represent several unrepresented defendants in serious criminal cases as a friend of the Court before the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi. He argued in as many as 12 serious criminal cases on a single day and assisted the Hon’ble Delhi High Court (hearing Criminal Appeals) in deciding a huge number of criminal appeals on a single day, thereby helping the court set new standards of efficiency, while at the same time - ensuring competent legal representation and a fair trial for the defendants who could not afford a proper counsel. He has participated in various legislative/policy discussions including those relating to the overhaul of Indian criminal laws, arbitration, specific relief act, amongst others. He is also extremely passionate about writing and his columns, articles, podcasts and have featured on many reputed legal journals such as Bar and Bench, SCC Online, Live Law, etc. His views/stories have also been featured in The Indian Express, CNN, Hindustan Times, Business Standard, The Hindu, MINT, Business-line, CNBC TV-18, The Mint, The Economic Times, Financial Express, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Quint, amongst others. Bharat has written numerous columns on a wide-array of legal and social issues. He is widely regarded for his strategic advice, defence skills, court-craft, persuasive argumentation, cross-examination skills and is valued for his 360-degree view of disputes. Bharat has led as a counsel on various international and domestic arbitrations, and challenging criminal cases. Bharat was also featured by LexisNexis in a book titled: 'On the Rise: Inspiring Stories of Young Legal Professionals in India', published in 2017. He has been practicing as an independent arguing counsel since August, 2020 and runs the Chambers of Bharat Chugh with offices in Gurugram and Delhi with a team of about 10 lawyers. He has also currently represents the committee appointed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India on the Manipur issue, as a Counsel.