The Legal 500

AZB & Partners provides the full spectrum of tax advice to domestic and international corporates, either as part of a wider corporate service or on a standalone basis. The firm’s prominent reputation for M&A means that the tax team regularly provides tax structuring advice, such as its recent work for Bharti Airtel on the Zain Africa acquisition. Ajay Bahl and Percy Billimoria are recommended.

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan fields ‘one of the standout tax practices’, and handles the full array of contentious and non-contentious matters, although it is best known for its knowledge of indirect taxation. Recent work includes advising domestic and international clients on customs-related issues including customs tariff classifications. The ‘very experienced’ V Lakshmi Kumaran is recommended.

Vaish Associates’ four-partner direct tax team has an excellent reputation in the 
market and represents both domestic and international corporates. It is best known for its litigation work, and has handled a number of significant transfer-pricing cases. Managing partner Ajay Vohra heads the practice.

Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co provides advisory and contentious tax support for its blue-chip roster of corporate clients. The firm provides crucial tax structuring advice on major corporate transactions, and is praised for its ‘ability to provide a true one-stop-shop service’. Team head Aseem Chawla recently advised FedEx on the tax structuring 
associated with its $100m acquisition of two Indian courier companies.

FoxMandal Little regularly provides tax advice on significant M&A transactions. In addition, the firm is often instructed on a standalone 
basis across issues as diverse as sales tax, international tax planning and income tax matters.

Manish Mishra heads Khaitan & Co.’s New Delhi office, which advises a number of clients on indirect taxation issues, including transactional and advisory matters and disputes. Mishra recently represented Jindal Power before the Director General of Foreign Trade and persuaded the body to allow the client to 
transfer capital goods to a group company 
without incurring additional customs duty liability.

Sanjay Kochhar heads Kochhar & Co’s 
busy four-partner team which handles an impressive volume and range of mandates including litigation, transfer pricing, structuring and compliance advice. Kochhar recently prepared a transfer-pricing report regarding
cross-border transactions between Nihon 
Denkei India and associated enterprises based outside the country. Shahid Khan and 
Vijay Ravi are other key members of the team, which also acts for clients such as Landmark Holdings and Maclellan.

As a corporate and M&A heavyweight, it is perhaps not surprising that a significant amount of Luthra & Luthra’s tax work lies in tax structuring as exemplified by its recent work on Abbott Laboratories’ $6.2bn acquisition of Solvay Pharma India. However, the team also recently successfully handled several 
pending income tax litigations for Jubilant Food Works. Other clients include Arcelor Mittal, Rolls Royce Group, Kingfisher Airlines and Moser Baer. Vikas Srivastava and Sanjeev Sachdeva 
are recommended, respectively for their direct and indirect tax expertise.

Praised for its ‘understanding of the different cultural norms of Western business practices’,
Seth Dua & Associates is particularly accomplished at representing international clients including SAB Miller, Verizon, Fiserv and Deutsche Telekom. Lauded for its 
‘killer instinct’ on contentious matters, the firm is representing Foster’s Group in high-profile withholding tax litigation relating to SAB Miller’s recent acquisition of the company. Atul Dua
as ‘excellent knowledge of Indian tax law’, 
and has previously worked at both KPMG 
and Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC).

Although the bulk of the firm’s tax work is handled out of Mumbai, DSK Legal’s New Delhi office has some exposure to transactional structuring tax work.

IndusLaw advises clients on contentious and non-contentious tax matters, and 
recently successfully represented Max India 
before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellant Tribunal regarding the classification 
of certain classes of services. Tapas Misra 
heads the team.

LexCounsel advises clients on contentious and non-contentious aspects of issues relating to double taxation, customs law and VAT. The firm also provides niche expertise to charities, 
trusts and non-profit organisations across a range of issues including tax exemptions.

Diljeet Titus heads Titus & Co’s ‘business-sensitive and pragmatic’ tax team, whose 
clients include Hirotec America, Raytheon and ARB.

Nishith Desai Associates advises clients such as Chartis Insurance UK, Vodafone, 
Standard Chartered and Marriott International on high-end tax matters. It also recently 
advised two international banks on developing 
cross-border structured financial products, 
and acted for a leading US-based private 
equityfund in global restructuring. This is a 
‘top-notch’ team in which the key figures are 
Bijal Ajinkya and founding partner
Nishith Desai.

Economic Laws Practice’s ‘excellent’ tax team is led by managing partner Rohan Shah. Its 
clients include Diageo, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, J V Gokal and Tata Communcations, as well as new clients such as the International Association of Drilling Contractors. Vikram Nankani and Rohit Jain are recommended.

ALMT Legal recently advised an Indian company on service tax and excise issues 
relating to the transformation of high-tension-electricity into low-tension electricity. It also 
acted for the Indian subsidiary of a Swiss multinational on numerous excise issues. 
Aliff Fazelbhoy and Statira Ranina are recommended.

DM Harish & Co advises both domestic and international companies as well as individuals on tax matters.

Khaitan & Co. advised the promoters of Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills on structuring 
the tax-efficient sale of their 53.5% stake in the 
company to US-based buyer, International Paper Company. The team also advised Philips Carbon Black on setting up a joint venture in Vietnam. Daksha Baxi, Sanjay Sanghvi and Nihal Kothari are recommended.

A.R.A. LAW is praised for its funds-structuring practice as well as its transfer-pricing expertise.

Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co advises corporate clients on a variety of tax-related matters.

Crawford Bayley & Co has a strong practice in indirect tax.

DSK Legal has substantial experience contesting tax investigations for a variety of clients.

Notable recent work for the team at 
Gagrats includes advising the Jumbo Group 
on direct taxation matters. The group also 
advised a number of Indian corporates on tax issues pertaining to demergers.

JBSS & Co’s key clients include Origin Corporation.

Kanga & Co’s M L Bhakta is recommended for advice on tax matters.

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan’s V Sridharan excels on service tax matters, and works in conjunction with the firm’s tax teams in other offices.

Majmudar & Co advised JDA Software Group on offshore and onshore tax issues regarding the amalgamation of its India operations into i2 Technologies India. It also
advised Drayton Capital on establishing a 
wine trading investment fund. The recent 
arrival of Ravishankar Raghavan from Ernst & Young deepened the practice.