Nishith Desai Associates offers a full range of dispute resolution services. The firm has a distinct international flavour, with ample dispute-related experience for clients from around the globe. Its government and regulatory litigation, tax litigation and international arbitration practices rank among the best in the market, and the firm has an enviable roster of technology, media and telecoms clients. The firm has a specialist international dispute resolution and investigations team, as well as a bilateral treaty investment arbitration team. Its new sub-practice groups for construction litigation, technology disputes and white-collar crimes and investigations have had a busy past year. As cryptocurrency and blockchain technology matters gain prominence, Nishith Desai lawyers have advised multiple clients on related contentious issues. The members of the international disputes team are spread across Mumbai, New Delhi and Singapore, and the firm has dedicated European and Japan desks. The firm has been present in Singapore for more than a decade and was the first Indian registered foreign law firm there.
Two senior leaders run the disputes groups: Vyapak Desai chairs the international litigation and dispute resolution group, with Sahil Kanuga as the co-head. Partners Kshama Loya, Ashish Kabra and Alipak Banerjee are also noted figures within the team.
In a complex international litigation, Allcripts India engaged the firm for criminal matters before the Indian courts. This adjudication in the case involved jurisprudence on the principles of quashing a charge-sheet, where similar allegations are also the subject matter of dispute before a foreign court, to what extent foreign court orders and pleadings can be relied by the High Court in a quash matter, and the police’s right to continue with further investigation during while the quash proceedings are pending. The court has examined whether criminal liability can pass by applying the principles of alter ego and, finally, whether the police can array individuals as accused persons where the company has not been made a party in the charge-sheet. Ultimately, the favourable order pronounced by the Supreme Court helped in amicably resolving the case.
The team is representing Zanmai Labs Private in a show cause notice issued by the enforcement directorate, and before two different High Courts. This novel case resulted in a decision that sets an important precedent for all crypto-currency exchanges offering crypto-currency transfers to foreign accounts. The applicability of the Foreign Exchange Management Act in relation to crypto exchanges will also be settled in this case at some point. Another important point of law that will be explored and settled through this case is on the extent of liability of a crypto platform that merely acts as an intermediary and is not an user, and is not directly related to any contravention.
The resulting judgment is a landmark one, possibly the first comprehensive one globally by an apex court on crypto-assets. The Supreme Court quashed the contested Reserve Bank of India circular that prohibited regulated entities from dealing in virtual currencies, holding that it was unconstitutional. The judgment in this case opens the door for millions of Indians to invest, buy and sell crypto-assets via bank accounts and allowing crypto-currency exchanges to use banking facilities. This is also one of the few cases where a RBI circular has been set aside by the Supreme Court.
Domain registrar Go Daddy is using the team in more than 80 contentious matters across India.
In a bitcoin-related case, the firm is represented the founders of Unocoin Technologies Private in filing a petition before a High Court seeking to quash criminal proceedings relating to the installation of a bitcoin kiosk. The company installed a crypto-asset kiosk in Bengaluru, India, which was to act as a vending machine for crypto-assets. However, owing to the lack of a regulatory regime over such an activity, a section of the media and the police proceeded on the basis that the activity was illegal, and the police initiated criminal proceedings against the founder-directors. This is the first and only case relating to the legality of a bitcoin kiosk in
India.
Clients that engaged the firm in the past 12 months include Align Technology, Aniket Investments, Euroschool Education Trust, Federation of India Airlines, Infosys, Interglobe Aviation, Maynards Europe, SWAMIH Investment Fund and Swan LNG.
