Case Explained: (One) Crime and (Many) Punishments? Potential Inefficiencies of the ‘Economic Offence’ under India’s New Criminal Laws – Legal Perspective

Neha Lodha (Senior Resident Fellow)

Neha is a Senior Resident Fellow at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, where she leads research and policy work on financial, economic, and corporate laws. She has advised on key issues of securities regulation, institutional governance, and insolvency laws, contributing to efforts to strengthen India’s financial sector.
She has also led independent research and contributed to thought leadership on pension regulation, artificial intelligence, corporate governance, and commercial laws. Prior to Vidhi, Neha worked at Tier-1 law firms on complex corporate transactions and regulatory matters, experience that grounds her policy work in practical insight. She graduated from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore in 2020 and holds a certificate to practice from the Bar Council of India.

Varsha Banta (Senior Resident Fellow)

Varsha is a lawyer, and Senior Resident Fellow (Corporate Law and Financial Regulation) at Vidhi, New Delhi. She works on engaged/commissioned projects from various ministries, statutory authorities, regulators, and other public institutions where she provides legal research and drafting support across various stages of law-making. Varsha’s focus areas include financial laws, commercial laws, and other regulatory & economic laws. Her academic and research interests include economics, company law, cross-border M&A and investment law, technology law, green & sustainable finance, and comparative insolvency regulation. Prior to joining Vidhi, she worked with the general corporate and M&A practices at JSA and AZB & Partners, where she advised & assisted on matters relating to business restructuring, corporate governance, private and Section 8 company setups/operations, privacy regulation, intellectual property, securities and financial regulation and white-collar crimes. Varsha writes on a range of commercial and financial law subjects, including non-performing assets, green & sustainable finance, virtual currencies, and pooled investments. Varsha graduated from the Jindal Global Law School, India (JGLS) in 2020 with a BA., L.L.B (Hons.), with distinction. She is qualified to practice by the Bar Council of Delhi and the Bar Council of India.