PRACTICE AREAS
Nine practice areas, partner-led throughout
Pratharva & Partners LLP is a full-service law firm based in New Delhi, advising clients
across litigation, arbitration, taxation, intellectual property, labour and employment,
regulatory matters and commercial advisory.
All Areas
Nine practice areas, each led by partners with direct, hands-on
involvement in every matter.
Arbitration & Dispute Resolution
OVERVIEW
Resolving commercial disputes requires strategic thinking, sound judgement and a
clear understanding of commercial interests.
SERVICES
- Domestic Arbitration
- International Commercial Arbitration
- Institutional & Ad-hoc Arbitration
- Mediation
- Commercial & Contractual Disputes
- Joint Venture & Shareholder Disputes
- Enforcement & Challenge of Awards
- Interim Relief
APPROACH
We assist clients from pre-dispute strategy through enforcement while focusing on
efficient and commercially sensible outcomes.
WHY PRATHARVA
Detailed legal preparation combined with practical commercial understanding.
Civil & Commercial Litigation
OVERVIEW
We represent clients before the Supreme Court of India, High Courts, District Courts, Tribunals and other judicial forums.
SERVICES
- Commercial Disputes
- Contract Claims
- Recovery Proceedings
- Property & Real Estate
- Partnership & Shareholder Disputes
- Consumer Matters
- Employment Litigation
- Appeals
APPROACH
Every dispute begins with understanding the client’s objectives before recommending
a practical litigation strategy.
WHY PRATHARVA
Strategic, commercially aware litigation focused on practical outcomes.
White Collar Crime & Economic Offences
OVERVIEW
The firm advises and represents companies, directors and individuals in
investigations and prosecutions under India’s economic offence statutes.
The work covers the investigative stage — summons, statements, search and seizure, and
document production — as well as trial and appeal.
SERVICES
- Representation in investigations by the Directorate of Enforcement and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office
- Proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, including attachment, the Adjudicating Authority and the Appellate Tribunal
- Central Bureau of Investigation and Economic Offences Wing matters
- Proceedings under the Prevention of Corruption Act
- Investigations and prosecutions under the Companies Act 2013
- Offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and proceedings under the Negotiable Instruments Act
- Bail, anticipatory bail and quashing petitions before the High Courts
- Internal investigations, document preservation and pre-emptive compliance review
APPROACH
Most economic offence matters are shaped in the weeks before a formal proceeding
exists, while statements are being recorded and documents produced. The firm works
at that stage, on the footing that positions taken then are difficult to correct once a
complaint is filed.
WHY PRATHARVA
The partner who conducts the internal review is the partner who appears when the
matter reaches court, so the account of the facts does not change hands
between stages.
Insolvency & Restructuring
OVERVIEW
The firm acts for financial and operational creditors, corporate debtors, resolution
applicants and insolvency professionals in proceedings under the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code, and advises on restructuring arrangements negotiated outside it.
The work runs from the first demand notice through the corporate insolvency
resolution process to appeal.
SERVICES
- Applications under Sections 7, 9 and 10, and defence of admission
- Representation of financial and operational creditors through the corporate insolvency resolution process
- Advice to committees of creditors, and review of resolution plans
- Advice to resolution applicants, including eligibility under Section 29A
- Avoidance applications — preferential, undervalued, fraudulent and extortionate transactions
- Liquidation proceedings, claims adjudication and disputes arising from asset sales
- Insolvency proceedings against personal guarantors to corporate debtors
- Appeals before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal and the Supreme Court
APPROACH
Insolvency outcomes are governed by statutory timelines rather than by the pace of
the parties. The firm plans each mandate backwards from the deadline that will decide
it, and settles the evidentiary position before the first hearing rather than during the
process.
WHY PRATHARVA
The insolvency practice is run alongside the firm’s commercial disputes work, so
recovery strategy is assessed against the contractual and enforcement options
outside the tribunal as well as within it.
Competition Law
OVERVIEW
The firm advises on conduct and transactions under the Competition Act and
represents parties in investigations and appeals. The work includes merger control
filings, defence of cartel and dominance investigations, and the competition
dimension of procurement and distribution arrangements.
SERVICES
- Merger control assessment and notification to the Competition Commission of India
- Cartel and bid-rigging investigations, including lesser penalty applications
- Abuse of dominance complaints and defence
- Responses to the Director General, document production and cross-examination
- Representation before the Commission and appeals to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal
- Competition compliance programmes, audits and training
- Review of distribution, pricing, exclusivity and rebate arrangements
- Competition issues arising in public procurement and tender challenges
APPROACH
Competition proceedings are decided on internal documents rather than on
submissions. The firm begins with a document review and forms a position only once
it knows what the record contains.
WHY PRATHARVA
Competition exposure is assessed alongside the contract and tender proceedings it
usually arises from, because the same conduct is frequently litigated in more than one
forum at once.
Indirect Taxation
OVERVIEW
The firm advises on goods and services tax and customs, and represents clients in
departmental adjudication, appellate proceedings and writ litigation. The practice
covers the classification and valuation questions that arise in the ordinary course of
business as well as the disputes that follow investigation.
SERVICES
- Goods and services tax advisory on classification, valuation, and place and time of supply
- Input tax credit disputes, including blocked and reversed credit proceedings
- Replies to show cause notices and representation in departmental adjudication
- Appeals before the Commissioner (Appeals) and the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal
- Customs classification, valuation and exemption disputes, including Special Valuation Branch proceedings
- Investigations and summons proceedings by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and the tax authorities
- Refund and export benefit claims, including integrated tax refunds, drawback and scheme benefits
- Writ petitions before the High Courts and appeals to the Supreme Court
APPROACH
Indirect tax disputes are decided on the documentary trail created long before
adjudication begins. The firm reads the record before it reads the notice, and advises
on the record that will exist rather than the one described.
WHY PRATHARVA
The practice is run from the litigation side. Advisory work is written with the appellate
record in view, so that a position taken today can be defended on the papers three
years from now.
Labour & Employement
OVERVIEW
The firm advises employers on workforce arrangements and represents them in
employment and industrial disputes. The work covers the drafting and restructuring of
employment terms, the conduct of internal processes, and litigation before labour
authorities and the courts.
SERVICES
- Employment, consultancy and retainer documentation, including restrictive covenants
- Compliance under the labour codes and subsisting state legislation
- Termination, retrenchment, transfer and closure processes
- Disciplinary inquiries and representation in domestic enquiries
- Constitution of internal committees and inquiry support under the sexual harassment legislation
- Industrial disputes before conciliation authorities, Labour Courts and Industrial Tribunals
- Disputes on provident fund, employees’ state insurance, gratuity and bonus
- Senior exits, garden leave, and confidentiality and non-solicitation disputes
APPROACH
Employment claims in India are more often decided on the process followed than on
the merits of the underlying decision. The firm advises on the sequence and the
record first, and on the substantive position second.
WHY PRATHARVA
Advice is drafted to be read later by the tribunal that will examine it, which means the
firm will say when a commercially preferred course cannot be documented defensibly.
Intellectual Property Rights
OVERVIEW
The firm acts in contentious intellectual property matters — infringement, passing off,
and disputes arising from licensing and technology arrangements — and handles the
prosecution and opposition work that supports them.
SERVICES
- Trade mark prosecution, oppositions, rectification and renewal
- Infringement and passing off suits, including applications for interim injunction
- Copyright infringement, assignment and licensing disputes
- Patent oppositions and revocation proceedings, and appeals before the High Court intellectual property divisions
- Design and geographical indication proceedings
- Trade secret and confidential information disputes, including those arising on employee movement
- Domain name disputes and online enforcement, including intermediary takedown proceedings
- Intellectual property terms in technology, licensing, franchising and distribution agreements
APPROACH
Indian intellectual property disputes are decided in substance at the interim stage.
The firm prepares the interim application as it would prepare a trial, because the order
made on it usually determines the commercial outcome.
WHY PRATHARVA
Infringement is run by the same team that handles the underlying commercial dispute,
so the intellectual property claim is not pursued in isolation from the contract,
the distribution arrangement or the employment terms that produced it..
Regulatory & Policy Advisory
OVERVIEW
The firm advises on sector regulation, licensing and compliance, and represents
clients before regulators and in writ proceedings challenging regulatory action. The
practice also prepares consultation responses and submissions in the course of rule-
making.
SERVICES
- Electricity regulation — tariff, open access and power purchase agreement disputes before the Central and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions
- Data protection under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, including consent architecture, notices and breach response
- Telecommunications, broadcasting and intermediary compliance
- Licensing, approvals, and public procurement and tender conditions
- Regulatory investigations, show cause proceedings and personal hearings
- Consultation responses, representations and pre-legislative submissions
- Writ petitions challenging regulatory and administrative action
- Compliance audits, standard operating procedures and internal escalation frameworks
APPROACH
Regulatory advice is written as pre-litigation work. The firm assumes that the file will
be produced to a regulator or a court and drafts to that standard from the outset.
WHY PRATHARVA
The firm maintains dedicated attention on two unsettled areas — enforcement under
the data protection legislation, and the enforcement of foreign awards and judgments
in India — and publishes its analysis on them rather than waiting for the position to
become settled.
