Somasekhar Sundaresan (born 1972)s a lawyer practicing as counsel in the areas of financial sector regulation, competition law, company law, exchange controls, and related litigation. As a member of committees set up by the Government of India, SEBI and the RBI, Somasekhar has drafted laws governing takeovers, insider trading and corporate governance of banks. He was actively involved in drafting the Indian Financial Code recommended by the Financial Sector Legislative Reform Commission.
Education:
edit→ 1996: L.L.B., Government Law College, University of Bombay → 1993: B.Com., R.A. Podar College of Commerce & Economics, University of Bombay Somasekhar Sundaresan received his B. Com degree from R.A. Podar College of Commerce & Economics, University of Bombay. He then went on to earn L.L.B. law degree from Government Law College, in 1996 from University of Bombay.
Between January 1994 and December 1998 he worked with the Times of India in the Business Editorial. He resigned as Assistant Editor of the Times of India in 1996 where was the youngest journalist to be designated as Assistant Editor at the age of 26. During his tenure as Journalist at The Times of India he studied law to be better at journalism.
Legal Career
editA business journalist turned lawyer Somasekhar had worked with the firm Udwadia, Udeshi & Berjis for four years before joining JSA along with Berjis Desai. Between April 2002 and August 2016 Somasekhar Sundaresan was a Partner and Head of Capital markets practice at law firm J Sagar Associates.
Somasekhar Sundaresan has set up independent chambers after 18 years of practice of law with the two firms J. Sagar Associates, a national law firm and Udwadia, Udeshi and Berjis. His practice includes litigation and opinions in the areas of securities regulations, competition law, company law, exchange controls, insurance regulation, pension fund regulation, and related regulatory areas; On June 8th 2020 Somasekhar was one among the names nominated] by The Bombay High Court to be elevated as Judge of The Bombay High Court
On March 19, 2021, the then Supreme Court collegium comprising Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice Rohinton F. Nariman and Justice N. V. Ramanna selected Somasekhar for appointment as judge of the Bombay High Court.
The list of candidates selected by the Supreme Court was scrapped on the premise that consultee judges from the Bombay High Court in the Supreme Court did not approve of the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court Justice B.P. Dharmadhikari had suggested a long list of 22 names despite having been a chief justice for less than a month.
The new Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Justice Dipankar Datta, then recommended Somasekhar for appointment as judge again on October 4, 2021.
On February 16, 2022, the Supreme Court collegium, then comprising Justice N.V. Ramanna, Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice A.N. Khanwilkar, selected Somasekhar for appointment as a judge of the Bombay High Court.
On November 25, 2022, the Central Government requested the Supreme Court to reconsider its selection.
On January 18, 2023, the Supreme Court collegium then comprising Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice K.M. Joseph reiterated the recommendation that had been made by the earlier collegium on February 16, 2022 through a published resolution.
On March 2, 2023, the Supreme Court appointed Somasekhar as part of a six-member expert committee headed by Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, former judge, Supreme Court, to look into specific facets of the securities market regulatory framework in the wake of market] volatility pursuant to publication of a report on the Adani Group by Hindenburg, an activist research firm in the US. The other members of the committee are Mr. K.V. Kamath, former CEO of ICICI Bank and founder of BRICS Bank: Mr. O.P.Bhatt, former Chairman, State Bank of India; Mr. Nandan Nilekani, founder and Chairman, Infosys Ltd. And Justice J.P. Devadhar, former judge, Bombay High Court and Presiding Officer, Securities Appellate Tribunal.
Legal Education / Speaking / Teaching Engagements:
edit➢ Regular speaker at the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal as a resource person on facets of corporate law, securities laws, laundering law, and commercial litigation – most recent attendance was on October 5 and 6, 2019
➢ Speaker at the Palkhivala Foundation, Chennai on “Corporate Failures: Where does the Buck Stop?” on July 27, 2019
➢ Speaker at the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy at the National Conference on Economic Offenses: Emerging Dynamics and Dimensions, on the subject of foreign exchange controls in India on February 17, 2019 in Coimbatore
➢ Guest Faculty on “Intersection of financial sector regulation and administrative law”, for the LLM Course at Kirit P. Mehta School of Law, NMIMS, Deemed University in Mumbai
➢ Teacher of a course on Takeover Regulations in a post-graduate diploma course on securities law of the Government Law College, University of Mumbai ➢ Gave a lecture on Capital Markets & Corporate Governance at NALSAR University, Hyderabad on April 14, 2018
➢ Speaker on “What Ails Justice Delivery: A Roadmap for Change”, at the Indian Economic Policy Strategy Conference, hosted by the National Institute for Public Finance and Policy and the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance held at Anand, Gujarat, January 13, 2015
➢ Conducted a session on Adjudication and Penalties at a workshop for regulators organized by the National Institute for Public Finance and Policy based on recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission on May 9, 2014
➢ Regular speaker from time to time at seminars and workshops of FICCI; Institute of Company Secretaries of India; Institute of Chartered Accountants of India; Bombay Chartered Accountants Society; Indian Merchants’ Chamber; Chamber of Tax Consultants, Mumbai; and on law school campuses