Mahajan will head the tax practice with a focus on litigation, transaction advisory and mergers and acquisitions.

Dua Associates managing partner Ranji Dua said: “We consciously took a step toward developing a focused tax practice in Gurgaon. Most of our corporate practice has already moved to Gurgaon even though we do have two or three corporate partners in Delhi.”

Mahajan – a 1991 qualified CA – has more than 20 years of experience in dealing with taxation. He spent the initial half of his career at companies including Onida, the Sriram Group, DLF and LG Electronics. From 2001 to 2005 he worked for the Big Four consultancy Ernst & Young. For the last seven years he was with Deloitte, where he also managed the company’s India-desk in New York from 2007 until 2009.

Mahajan told Legally India that ideas around the new practice first started brewing in 2007, even though he had long had a relationship with Dua who had advised on the corporate side of E&Y’s deals.

“It was not very apparent at that time in terms of discussion, but there was some idea around it,” he said adding, “Mr Dua was always keen on setting up a tax practice. During the initial part of his career he was strictly involved in some major tax issues.”

He finally joined the firm on 1 August this year, eyeing it as a “challenging place to practice in tax”. He does not hold equity in the firm, it is understood. The rest of his team joined on 1 September.

In August cars, including BMWs, were bought for several partners out of firm profits, according to a source with knowledge of the firm. Dua declined to confirm this but said: “Our firm is very different. We are a very very democratic firm. The partners decide and see how they wish to spend their earnings. If someone wants to drive a better car they can.”

Luthra & Luthra also offered a choice of cars including the BMW 3 series to five partners with the firm in 2011.

Former Dua & Associates lawyer Vinod Joseph re-joined the firm as a salaried partner in Mumbai in January 2011, after eight years in the UK. Dua declined to confirm the firm’s current partnership size.

“As a matter of policy, we do not speak in public about matters related to the partnership. We believe that they are private and just between the firm and its partners,” he said.