Panel Of Judges

Hon’ble Justice M. N. Venkatachaliah

Chairman, Golden Peacock Awards Jury, Former Chief Justice of India, Former Chairman,
National Human Rights Commission of India and Former Chairman, National Commission for Constitution of India Reforms

Today's corporate landscape is vastly different, than what it was two decades ago. The change is pushing companies to be more transparent and accountable for their actions, and open about engaging with stake-holders. The Business Excellence case for good governance and long term sustainability is well established. Today's business environment provides a multitude of new challenges, but also significant opportunities for those who can master it's dynamics. In a world, where knowledge is growing exponentially and products and services are fast becoming obsolete, the challenge of innovation is irresistible and restless. Innovation is no option. You either innovate or perish. Managing innovation is rooted more in leadership and organizational capabilities, than in technological prowess, who can build, embrace, and take advantage of the contradictions, inherent in ambidextrous organizations.

Lt. Gen. Surinder Nath, PVSM AVSM (Retd.)

Former Vice Chief of Army Staff, Former Chairman, UPSC &
Former Independent Director, Larsen & Toubro Limited

Lt. Gen. Surinder Nath, PVSM, AVSM (Retd), Ex-Chairman, Union Public Service Commission, New Delhi, Ex-Vice Chief of Army Staff, Army Headquarters, Ex-Independent Director on the Board of Larsen and Toubro; Fellow of the Institute of Directors, New Delhi; Member of the Advisory Council, VGSOM, IIT, Kharagpur; M.Sc. in Defence Studies from Madras University; M.A. in International Relations from Allahabad University.

Born on 26th June 1937, Joined National Defence Academy in 1953 and commissioned into Regiment of Artillery from Indian Military Academy in June 1957; Attended various professional courses including Survey and Target Acquisition Course, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, USA; Defence Services Staff College Course at Wellington, Nilgirs; Command and General Staff Course, Tehran, Iran; National Defence College, New Delhi.

He took over as Chairman, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), New Delhi on 11th December, 1998 an appointment equivalent to the Cabinet Secretary, the highest post in the Government of India. UPSC is a Constitutional Body entrusted with the task of recruitment to various senior level posts in the Central Government and Union Territories and other organized cadres, viz. IAS, IPS and IFS etc. by conducting various competitive examinations and also by direct interviews. Apart from being the premier Institution in the country for recruitment and selection to posts/appointments ranging upto the highest level in the Government of India, it is an expert body for the development of human resources. Visited France, UK and USA in July 2001 to study the system and procedures adopted by similar organizations in those countries. After successfully completing his tenure in UPSC, demitted that office on 25th June 2002.

Dr. V. K. Agnihotri, IAS(Retd)

Former Secretary-General Rajya Sabha (Parliament of India)

Dr. Vivek K. Agnihotri is an IAS officer of 1968 batch. He has Master’s degrees in English Literature and Political Science from the University of Allahabad. He has Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis and Design from IIT Delhi. Dr.Agnihotri superannuated as Secretary to Government of India. Post retirement, he was Member of CAT and Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha, in the Parliament of India. He is Director, LML, Kanpur; Member of the Technical Advisory Group, ISB; Adviser, UPSC; and Adviser of Eminence (Public Governance), American Society for Quality, New Delhi. He is widely travelled and has several publications to his credit.

Desh Deepak Verma, IAS (Retd.)

Independent Director JSW Energy Limited & Jakson Group &
former Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha (Parliament of India)

Shri Desh Deepak Verma is a retired IAS officer. He has held several key positions in the Government of Uttar Pradesh and in Government of India. Shri Verma was selected as first head of the India office of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Sri Sri Verma was decorated during the Republic Day parade for outstanding contribution to the settlement of 20 years old Shia-Sunni dispute. Shri Verma is also accredited for introducing several industry friendly reforms in the Trade Tax Department like e-filing of returns and removal of all check-posts and barriers.

Hon’ble Justice U. U. Lalit

Former Chief Justice of India

Justice Uday.U. Lalit enrolled as an advocate in June 1983. He specialised in criminal law and practiced at the Bombay HC from 1983 to 1985. Following his stint at the Bombay HC, he worked in the chambers of then Attorney General of India, Soli Sorabjee, from 1986 to 1992. Justice Lalit was designated as Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court in April, 2004. He aided the Court as amicus curiae in many important matters pertaining to forests, vehicular pollution and pollution of the Yamuna river. Justice Lalit was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court directly from the Bar on August 13th, 2014. He was the sixth Judge elevated directly to the SC without having served as a Judge in a lower court or High Court. As an SC Judge, he was appointed as the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) on May 14th, 2021. Justice Lalit took over as the 49th Chief Justice of India on August 27th, 2022, becoming the only second CJI to be elevated to directly from the bar.

Shekhar Dutt, IAS (Retd.)

Former Governor State of Chhattisgarh &
former Secretary Ministry of Defence Government of India

Shekhar Dutt was the governor of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Earlier he had served on various bureaucratic posts including, as an IAS officer, as Secretary in the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India.

Dutt was appointed Governor of Chhattisgarh on 18 June 2014. Dutt belongs to the 1969 batch of IAS from Madhya Pradesh cadre. He was awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. As Director General of the Sports Authority of India, Dutt played a role in the hosting of the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad, India in 2003.

Dhanendra Kumar, IAS (Retd.)

Chairman, Committee on National Competition Policy of India
Former Chairman, Competition Commission of India
Former Secretary to Government of India &
Former Executive Director, World Bank

Dhanendra Kumar (born 1946) is a civil servant who was the first Chair of Competition Commission of India (CCI). Kumar formerly served as Executive Director at World Bank. He is currently assisting Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs as Principal Advisor and Chief Mentor of School of Competition Law – the upcoming National Centre of Excellence.

Anurag Goel, IAS (Retd.)

Former Secretary Ministry of Corporate Affairs
Government of India

Anurag Goel has joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1972 and is now Member, Competition Commission of India (CCI). He brings rich experience of corporate governance and competition regulation to this assignment, including nearly 3½ years as Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Corporate Affairs and varied earlier assignments in the Ministries of Finance, Home, Defence, Civil Aviation, etc. Mr Goel also set up and operationalized the hugely successful and widely appreciated MCA-21 e-governance system for corporate compliance.

Hem Pande, IAS (Retd.)

Secretary Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food & Public Distribution Government of India &
former Special Secretary Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change Government of India

Hem Pande is an outstanding leader and project manager with impeccable administrative and managerial skills. He has 36 years of experience as a civil servant and three years of teaching in a University. During 2016-17 he served as Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Consumer Affairs. He was responsible for bringing out direct selling guidelines in September 2016 thus heralding a new chapter in direct selling in India. Mr Pande also holds Master's degree in Business Administration from Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne (Australia).

Dr. Uddesh Kohli

Secretary General IFTDO, Senior Advisor, Global Compact Office, UN &
former Chairman and MD, Power Finance Corporation

Dr. Uddesh Kohli, B.E. (Hons), MBA and Ph.D in Economics, is presently the Chairman Emeritus of Construction Industry Development Council, Chairman of Construction Industry Arbitration Council and Engineering Council of India. He is also Secretary General of International Federation of Training & Development Organizations (IFTDO). He is Independent Director on the Boards of several companies and a Member of the Board of Governors of IIM, Kozhikode and Bangalore. He is a Senior Adviser in the Global Compact Office of UN Secretary General and is promoting this Program in India. He has also worked as a Consultant with several other United Nations organizations and the Asian Development Bank. His wide ranging specialization includes corporate governance, strategic management, development planning, project planning, appraisal & management, finance, energy, power systems, corporate citizenship, reforms and restructuring, public systems, and training.

Dr. Kohli has been Adviser, Planning Commission, the Chairman & Managing Director of Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Chairman of Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) and Consultancy Development Centre. A HRD expert, Dr. Kohli is the President Emeritus of Indian Society for Training & Development (ISTD) and president of Council of Indian Employers (CIE), All India Management Association, Asian Regional Training and Development Organization (ARTDO).