Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas partner and tax head Krishan Malhotra has joined Dhruva Advisors as senior partner.

Malhotra was a senior partner at RSM & Co between 1997 and 2007, followed by the same position at PwC India for three years, and two years at KPMG India as its North India tax head.

In 2012 he joined what was then Amarchand Mangaldas in its Delhi office, becoming its regional tax head, until leaving in April for Dhruva.

Malhotra did not respond to requests for comment.

Dhruva was set up late 2014 by former KPMG deputy CEO Dinesh Kanabar.

Kanabar commented: “Krishnan is a veteran tax professional who’s been in the tax business for many years.”

“He is very well respected in the northern market and worked with me many moons back,” he said, adding that it was great to have him on board at Dhruva.

We have reached out to Shardul Amarchand Delhi managing partner Pallavi Shroff for comment.

Update 18:57: Shroff said she wished Malhotra the best.

In 2015, Dhruva briefly tied up with VoxLaw, a firm started in 2012 by Economic Laws Practice (ELP) associate partner Ritesh Kanodia and Bharucha & Partners senior associate Amey Nargolkar.

However, it is understood that a full merger was aborted at the middle of last year and both firms are independent again.

Kanabar said that Dhruva now consisted of 19 partners and 150 people, across five offices.

“We’ve grown considerably,” he said.

The firm focuses primarily on direct taxes and indirect taxes, including tax advocacy and tax litigation, as well as regulatory work relating to M&A, SEBI, RBI-related matters and others.