Mihir Rale has been practicing law for nearly two decades across both contentious and non-contentious issues. Since joining Star India as a Manager in 2009, he has played an instrumental role in the growth of the company. In 2019, he was promoted as General Counsel. He is now the Chief Regional Counsel, Star & Disney India. At Disney / Star India, he has helped increase the company’s stake in Tata Sky, set up the Media Pro joint venture, acquire the ESPN stake in the ESPN Star Sports joint venture as well as setting up the joint ventures for the company’s football and Kabaddi initiatives. Under his supervision, the company undertook the high-stakes acquisition of sports rights such as IPL, BCCI, and ICC as well as the launch of Disney+Hotstar in India.

Mr Rale has also played a pivotal role in guiding the company and the industry through challenging regulations under an ever evolving regulatory landscape in India.

He began his career with Haresh Jagtiani & Associates as a litigation counsel practicing before the Bombay High Court. Prior to joining Star India, he has worked at AZB & Partners, where he practiced both contentious and non-contentious assignments.

Mr Rale holds an LLB and is a Bachelor of Socio-legal Sciences, both from the Indian Law Societies, Law College, University of Pune.