Established in 2003, Alaya Legal celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The dispute resolution offering spans the full range of practice areas, but it has a particular expertise in contentious labour and employment matters. The lawyers are experienced working at all levels of the court in India, from district courts to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. Its caseload includes contract, real estate, insolvency and labour disputes, as well as construction and infrastructure arbitration matters.
The key partner leading the disputes practice is Divjyot Singh. Singh is a labour and employment specialist, but also handles civil and commercial litigation and arbitration.
Singh and his team are acting for a public sector undertaking as the respondent in an arbitration involving disputes relating to the construction of a wind farm. They are also representing Zomato Private as the plaintiff in proceedings seeking an injunction and damages from the defendants for uploading a video containing incorrect and disparaging comments on YouTube. The team was successful in procuring interim orders, including an order directing YouTube to disable the URL containing the video.
In an employment-related matter, the firm represented a software company in a petition filed by a workmer before the High Court of Delhi challenging the ruling of the Labour Court refusing reinstatement and backdated wages to the worker. On the flip side, the litigation team assisted a worker as the petitioner before the High Court of Delhi in a writ petition filed against an order of the Labour Court dismissing the application of the worker for amendment of pleadings.
In another labour-related case, the team is assisting the client in a petition filed before the High Court against an award passed by the Labour Court. This case raised several novel questions, such as whether a person performing administrative, managerial and supervisory duties can be said to be a ‘workman’ under the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 and
the principles governing the grant of backdated wages as the same cannot be claimed by the ‘workman’ as a matter of right.
