Basu, who was previously at Platinum in Delhi after joining from White & Case in London in 2009, has taken up the position as joint India head in Pennington’s London office.

Basu (pictured m.) commented that it was a very exciting role and he looked forward to developing the practice.

Picton-Howell (pictured r.) has joined as a consultant on 1 Februrary and will also focus on India. He said that he had resigned as an EMW partner in April 2010 to become a consultant to the firm.

Picton-Howell had merged his London corporate boutique with South-East firm EMW in November 2008, with Picton-Howell having generated around one-third of its £2m turnover from India. He told Legally India: “One of the main reasons for moving to Penningtons was because of their presence in the Indian market. It made sense to join a firm with the same focus.”

Basu will be heading the India group alongside partner Rustam Dubash (pictured l.), who had set up the firm’s India group in 1992. Dubash said in a press release that Penningtons was committed to growing its India team.

The release added that its Indian clients included Tata Group, Syndicate Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, Shree Cement and Nihilent Technologies.

Platinum and EMW declined to comment, with EMW CEO Joy Vollans adding that she wished Picton-Howell and Penningtons the best of luck.