Last year, DSK Legal significantly bolstered its disputes team by winning over the litigation arm of Luthra and Luthra Law Offices (L&L) and several partners from Dua Associates. Twenty-one new partners joined DSK from L&L with their teams and four from Dua, bringing a total number of 63 fee earners to the litigation and arbitration group. This massive influx of top-level talent necessitated new offices across India in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai. This growth has ushered in a new era for the dispute resolution offering, expanding the firm’s contentious capabilities across the full spectrum of practice areas and industry sectors. The team now has expertise in commercial, IPR, regulatory, securities, shareholder, blue and white collar crime, constitutional, employment, construction, tax, and regulatory disputes, as well as domestic and international arbitrations. With a team led by high-profile and experienced litigators across multiple areas and at all levels of the courts, the firm consistently finds itself on complex, novel and landmark matters. For example, the team was successful in winning one of the first arbitrations conducted under the rule of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce. This year the firm climbed up a notch in the construction, government, and regulatory and international arbitration rankings and debuted in the contentious competition, IP and labour tables.
The disputes team is led by managing partner Anand Desai and senior partners Bobby Chandhoke and Sudhir Sharma. Other key partners to note include Nirav Shah, Jatin Pore, Kirat Singh Nagra, Dinesh Pardasani, Samir Malik, Kartik Yadav, Parag Khandhar and Samit Shukla.
The team is assisting Yum! Restaurants in proceedings against the Directorate of Enforcement (DoE). The client had commenced business in the country on the basis of approvals granted by the Secretariat of Industrial Approval (SIA). Then, the DoE passed an order against the client, alleging contravention of the terms and conditions of the approval granted by SIA and imposing a hefty penalty. The firm also successfully represented CREDAI-MCHI in a Supreme Court case related to the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around a national park and sanctuary area. The client filed an interim application seeking clarification on specific notifications, and the court ultimately passed an order giving answers to ESZ boundary questions that the client had raised.
The firm is acting for the Minister of Women and Child Development and Minister of Minority Affairs in a defamation suit against various leaders of an opposition party and several social media intermediaries. The court passed an ad-interim injunction against the defendants in the civil suit. This case highlights that the right to freedom of speech for one person ought to be balanced with the right to dignity for another.
In a case that reads like fiction, the DSK team represented its clients in a suit filed by someone claiming to be the adopted son of Gangubai Harjivandas. This individual alleged in a suit that the contents of the chapter of book The Mafia Queens of Mumbai – on which the movie Gangubai Kathiawadi is based – are defamatory and constitute an infringement of his right to privacy, self-respect and liberty. The top-tier media lawyers were able to have the suit rejected by the court.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) engaged the firm for its high stakes dispute with KCM Petrotech (KCMP) over a commercial contract pertaining to polymer manufacturing. KCMP had challenged an arbitral award in favour of the client and the DSK lawyers successfully defended against the petition and had it dismissed. It additionally secured directions for KCMP to pay the arbitral award amount within six months. This is an interesting matter because DSK secured attachment orders against the judgment debtor based out of Hyderabad with no assets within the jurisdiction of the executing court and despite objections from the judgment debtor regarding execution proceedings being non-maintainable on grounds of territorial jurisdiction.
On the competition front, the antitrust litigators represented Tamarai Technologies before the Supreme Court against a judgment passed by the Guwahati High Court which set aside ongoing proceedings before the competition regulator. In an international arbitration matter, Bharti International Singapore enlisted the firm for SIAC arbitration proceedings in a case arising out of non-payment of satellite services that is based in agreements with Philippines entities. The DSK lawyers successfully secured orders for conduct of arbitration under expedited procedure of SIAC rules and secured an award for $2.5 million in favour of its client.
Other significant clients that worked with the firm over the past year include Aditya Birla Finance, Air India, Alstom System India, Hitachi Rail, IL&FS, Mallika SA Investments, Nabinagar Power Generating Company and Sterlite Technologies.
Client feedback
“The team is very responsive and concise at drafting. The lawyers provide great insight into the Competition Commission of India.” – Competition
Abhishek Baghel
“Innovative, hungry for success. Astute knowledge.”
Abdhullah Hussain
“Very responsive.”
Jatin Pore
“Strategic thinking around case solutions.”
