Abeer Kumar appointed as litigation head at Indigo

Abeer Kumar appointed as litigation head at Indigo

His team comprises five lawyers, while the total team's tally is 21

Abeer Kumar has been appointed as the head of litigation at IndiGo, the largest low-cost passenger airline in India. Until recently, he headed the legal team at the bike taxi aggregator Rapido.

Kumar stated, "As a brand and organization, Indigo has distinguished itself from all other players in the aviation industry. It has earned itself as one of the best airlines in the country and is steadily gaining international recognition as well. Besides being the largest bird in the sky, it has an excellent in-house legal team. Over the years, the team has earned a reputation of not just being competent and highly skilled, but also as thorough professionals."

In 2007, Kumar began his legal practice as an associate at the Chambers of now-Justice Indu Malhotra, focusing on lower courts and consumer disputes. A year later, he joined Karanjawala & Co as an associate with a concentration on appellate courts and tribunals. In 2012, he became the senior associate at Economic Laws Practice.

In 2013, he moved to PDS Legal (now Lumiere Partners) as a principal associate and worked with the firm for almost seven years. Later he joined Rapido as the Head of Legal in 2020.

On his decision to join the aviation sector, Kumar said, "I have previously worked for an organization in the mobility sector and a shift to aviation felt like a natural progression. Aviation is highly specialized and there are not many firms or individual practitioners in this field. Therefore, you become part of an exclusive club of lawyers specializing in this field."

While gaining expertise in aviation laws takes time, one must be strong with the basics of the procedure and other general laws such as consumer, antitrust, labor and commercial laws, he added.

As a litigation head, he feels the need to take part in all aspects of the aviation business. Kumar remarked, "It is also about averting damage without resorting to litigation with effective counsel on all issues. This is gained by being a part of all aspects ranging from compliance, licensing, tariff determination, the purchase and leasing of aircraft, consumer issues, and co-ordination with aviation authorities on various issues related to operations and internal management."