Herbert Smith Freehills

Herbert Smith Freehills London senior associate Rajesh Chavda, will join Luthra & Luthra as a partner in its Delhi infrastructure and natural resources practice in April 2015.

Amarchand Mangaldas maintained its top spot in intelligence provider mergermarket’s M&A league rankings this quarter.

Herbert Smith Freehills India practice chairman Chris Parsons will be walking 1260 km from the Gateway of India in Mumbai to Bangalore in 2015.

Twenty months after the Supreme Court (SC) had given 10 weeks to complete serving notices on foreign law firms, the Bar Council of India (BCI) appeal against foreign law firms practicing in India, remains stuck at the service stage.

Delhi HC slaps railways with costs for frivolous appeals: The Delhi HC criticised the department of railways for filing “frivolous” appeals to evade coughing up due compensation, and imposed a cost of Rs 20,000 on the Railways officer who had advised moving court in a case where a man was trampled inside a train bogey [The Hindu]

CS Karnan accused SC judge of connivance: Madras HC justice CS Karnan wrote to “a Supreme Court judge” who “had bemoaned the developments at the Madras high court” at a “recent function”, accusing him of heaping insults on him and “conniving” with vested interests to prevent Karnan from inaugurating a court building, reported the [New Indian Express]. The NIE had earlier reported that former Madras HC chief RK Agrawal, in his farewell speech on his elevation to the SC, had adversely commented on Karnan’s allegations, controversial episodes, and on the situation at the HC

New Chhatisgarh law comm and new TN law comm members: Former Madras HC justice T Suthanthiram, former additional secretaries in the State Law Department R Vivekanandan and R Kathirvel, and former district judges R Dayalan and R Munirathnam have been appointed to the Tamil Nadu Law Commission as full time and part time members. Chhatisgarh has meanwhile set up a law commission to review existing laws according to state conditions, for the first time since its formation out of Madhya Pradesh. Till now its law was entirely adopted from Madhya Pradesh state law [The Hindu/TOI]

New anti illegal lending law in Maha: The Maharashtra legislative assembly has passed a bill to regulate transactions of money lending in the state and do away with the five year limitation for probing illegal lending transactions [Mumbai Mirror]

SC lawyer Vineet Dhanda booked: Supreme Court additional standing counsel for Arunachal Pradesh, Vineet Dhanda, was booked at Vishrambaug for allegedly manhandling the police. Dhanda countered that the police hit him on the head and pushed his wife [TOI]

HSF is not renewing Singapore licence: “Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance, Latham & Watkins, Norton Rose Fulbright and White & Case have successfully renewed their Qualifying Foreign Law Practice (QFLP) licences in Singapore, while Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has decided not to re-apply,” reported [The Lawyer]

SC Singhvi retires, leaves legacy
The Supreme Court’s justice GS Singhvi, most famous for his stern treatment of the 2G and the land acquisition cases, retired today just after overturned the progressive Delhi HC judgment that had decriminalised homosexuality [The Hindu]

Madras HC advocates for Ganguly
Madras HC advocates yesterday took out a rally in support of sexual harassment accused former Supreme Court judge AK Ganguly, asserting that he was being targeted because of his stern dealing of sensational cases [TOI]

CCI’s giant Coal India fine
Coal India is facing Rs 17.7 billion ($290m) Competition Commission of India fine for abusing its dominant position and imposing unfair conditions in fuel supply agreements with customers [Reuters]

E&Y legal to launch Singapore with HSF partner
“Former Herbert Smith Freehills’ Singapore partner John Dick has joined Ernst & Young Singapore as a partner as the “big four” accounting firm mulls legal services launch,” reported [The Lawyer]

PIL reveals crippled IPAB
A PIL in the Madras HC has brought attention to the “crippled” state of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board due to insufficient funds to have permanent premises for its principle and circuit benches [TOI]

Maha-NLS dream remains distant
Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan “dodged” the Times’ query regarding schedule of setting up of Nagpur NLS, even though its proposal was earlier promised to be tabled in the winter session of the state legislative assembly. The paper now writes it could be a distant dream [TOI]

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has entered into associations with NLS, NUJS, Nalsar, NLU Jodhpur and Delhi so far.

Three law firms structure preferential allotment of shares in BSE/NSE-listed company.

London international firms beat US firms in recognition and volume stakes.

Khaitan & Co and Herbert Smith Freehills advised the ministry of finance in the Rs 11,470 crore ($2.1bn) disinvestment of 9.5 per cent in India’s largest thermal power producer NTPC through an offer for sale.

Breaking: Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and DSK Legal advised old-client Strides Arcolab in the $1.6bn+ sale of its injectables subsidiary Agila Specialties to Nasdaq-listed generic drugs-maker Mylan Inc.

The fourth annual international lecture programme (ILP) organised by Herbert Smith Freehills and Oxford University’s dean of law Professor Timothy Endicott, will take place at NLU Jodhpur between 4 and 8 February this year, with seven other law schools also sending three of its top students to attend the lecture series.

AZB & Partners advised veteran client diversified technology and manufacturing major Honeywell Asia Pacific in its Rs 130 crore ($25m) sale of 6.24 per cent stake in its subsidiary Honeywell Automation India in an offer for sale through the stock exchange (OFS).

Amarchand Mangaldas and Herbert Smith Freehills advised Deutsche Equities India which was the stock broker for the OFS.

AZB & Partners Delhi co-founding partner Ajay Bahl with partner Anil Kasturi and senior associate Aparna Mehra acted for Honeywell with which Bahl’s relationship dates back to the early 1990s, he told Legally India.

Amarchand Mangaldas Mumbai capital markets partners Yash Asher and Gaurav Gupte acted for Deutsche Equities India, with Herbert Smith Freehills Singapore counsel Siddhartha Sivaramakrishnan.

Honeywell offloaded 5,51,333 shares as part of this OFS, to bring down the promoters’ holding to 75 per cent as per SEBI’s directive on minimum public shareholding, according to Money Control.

Khaitan & Co, with Herbert Smith Freehills, advised the Japanese Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory (OPF), in co-investing Rs 1050 crore ($193m) in Indian pharma company Claris Lifesciences, to form a joint venture (JV). Claris was advised by AZB & Partners. Japan’s Mitsui & Co, advised by Amarchand Mangladas, was the other investor.