Khaitan & Co has hired HSA Advocates partner Akshay Malhotra as a partner in its energy, infrastructure and resources (EIR) practice in the Delhi office, making him the second partner hire announced by the firm this week.

The Symbiosis graduate had been at HSA since 2016, making associate partner in 2017 and partner in March 2020.

Before that he had also worked at Luthra & Luthra, as it then was, as well as a stint at Trilegal and the first three years of his career from 2009 again at HSA.

He was one of the two partners who eventually decided not to join DSK Legal with seven others but stayed behind at HSA.

Khaitan executive director Amar Sinhji commented: “With the massive push on Infrastructure by the Government under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) mechanism, we foresee tremendous growth prospects for our EIR practice. We will continue to look at inorganic growth in this sector.”

HSA managing partner Hemant Sahai commented: “Akshay has been part of the firm during his formative years and it’s a matter of pride for me that he is a recognised practitioner.

“It is also a matter of personal satisfaction for me that the fact that we encourage and inculcate leadership within the firm is recognised and acknowledged by peers. I wish Akshay all the best in his future endeavours.”

Last week Khaitan had announced the joining of Advaita's Sudipta Bhattacharjee as an indirect tax partner.