Governing Body Members
Mr. Sriram Panchu
President
Mr. Sriram Panchu
President
Sriram Panchu is a Senior Advocate and Mediator from Chennai. He is the Founder of Concord Mediation, which offers services in mediation and med-arb. He was instrumental in setting up India’s first court-annexed mediation centre in 2005 in the Madras High Court, has worked to making mediation a part of India's legal system, and conducted a wide range of mediations. He is a Director on the Board of the International Mediation Institute (IMI), and a Certified Mediator with the Singapore International Mediation Centre. He features in Who’s Who Legal - Mediation.
He has authored two books on mediation. “Settle for More “ (2007) and Mediation: Practice & Law” (2011, 2015), and the India Chapter of Getting the Deal Through.
Ms. Varuna Bhandari
Vice President of Delhi Zone
Ms. Varuna Bhandari
Vice President of Delhi Zone
Ms. Varuna Bhandari Gugnani is practicing lawyer since 1990. She is a Mediator in the Supreme Court Mediation Centre, Punjab & Haryana High Court Mediation Centre, Delhi Dispute Resolution Society (DDRS), Department of Law, Justice and Legal Affairs, Government of NCT Delhi and empanelled as Mediator in National Company Law Tribunal, New Delhi. She is also a Trainer with the MCPC (Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee), Supreme Court.
She has participated and contributed to many international conferences. Varuna works with a team of specialists from other disiplines for effective understanding and mediation of disputes. She has successfully mediated more than 200 ofdisputes as an impartial and neutral mediator between the conflicting parties.
Ms. Aparna Mukerjee
Secretary
Ms. Aparna Mukerjee
Secretary
Aparna is a lawyer and mediator from Chennai. She is qualified as a mediator and a trainer.
Aparna has mediated disputes, which include those referred by the Supreme Court of India, High Court of Madras, World Bank, Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), covering disputes including those relating to the workplace, community and company, contracts, construction, peace building and border demarcation.
She currently holds the position of Director, I-Mediate India Private Limited, Regional Mediator for the World Bank Group for SAARC countries, Regional Mediator working with CAO, (independent accountability mechanism for IFC & MIGA), Mediator on the panel of the High Court of Madras and Mediator on the panel of ICADR.
Mr. AJ Jawad
Joint Secretary
Mr. AJ Jawad
Joint Secretary
Jawad is an advocate and mediator based in Chennai.
He has undergone extensive training as a mediator and as a trainer. He is accredited as trainer with (a) the Supreme Court of India’s Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee (MCPC), (b) the Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre and (c) with the ADR-ODR International Ltd. UK.
He is a mediator on the panel of the Tamil Nadu Mediation Centre and is the joint secretary of the Tamil Nadu Mediation Centre. He has been the coordinator for the Family Court Mediation Centre. He has conducted mediator training programs all over India under the aegis of the Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee of the Supreme Court of India.
Ms.Kavitha Balakrishnan
Joint Secretary
Ms.Kavitha Balakrishnan
Joint Secretary
Kavitha is an advocate practicing in the Madras High Court and a mediator. Kavitha is a mediator on the panel of the Tamil Nadu Mediation Centre, the Family Court, District Court, Chennai and Labour Court.
She is the President Society For Alternative Dispute Resolutions (SOFADS), Founding Secretary for Tamil Nadu Mediators’ and Conciliators’ Association and Secretary for Progressive Law Society. Panel Arbitrator Academy of Arbitration Avenues-INTL. And Founder and administrator of the social media Group – Ambassadors of Mediation for the past 3 years.
Mr. Vijayakrishnan
Treasurer
Mr. Vijayakrishnan
Treasurer
R Vijayakrishnan is an Advocate and Mediator from Chennai. He initially practised in the Madras High Court, and then worked with the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd (E.C.G.C) for over twenty years holding senior positions, and since 1993 has been a consultant on international trade, international trade finance, export credit insurance and allied subjects.
In addition to serving as a mediator in the court annexed mediation centre from the year 2006, Vijayakrishnan, is a co-founding trustee of Foundation for Comprehensive Disputes Resolution, (FCDR) Chennai. FCDR endeavors to spread awareness about mediation and undertakes private mediation.
He is also an accredited mediator with the ADR Group U.K.
Ms.Uma Ramanathan
Executive Committee Member
Ms.Uma Ramanathan
Executive Committee Member
Uma is a lawyer who practiced in the Madras High Court. She was trained as a mediator in 2006 and as a trainer in 2007. She is a member of the panel constituted to draft the Mediation Manual of India under the aegis of Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee, Supreme Court of India. She is the Co-ordinator and Organizing Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre, High Court Madras.
She is the Managing Trustee of Foundation for Comprehensive Dispute Resolution- a private initiative to promote mediation and appropriate conflict resolution. She has written extensively on mediation, and presented papers on the subject in various conferences.
Dr.Rashmi
Executive Committee Member
Dr.Rashmi
Executive Committee Member
Dr Rashmi is the director of a trust SNEH (Society for Nature Education & Health), which promotes upliftment of the underprivileged and underserved of Jharkhand. She started her career as a lecturer in the fields of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, and has multiple publications and a book release under her belt. Over the last few years, Dr Rashmi became a member of the Jharkhand High Court Legal Services Committee and has begun mediation on a regular basis.