Deepak Chopra, who was counsel to the revenue department before becoming part of law firm PDS Legal, is joining Zia Mody-lead AZB & Partners’ tax litigation practice in New Delhi.
Primarily known for marquee mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance, AZB & Parterns is aggressively ramping up its dispute and litigation practice in Delhi. This is second such hiring for its litigation practice as VP Singh, Mumbai partner of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) had joined the firm in mid-2016 to head its corporate litigation portfolio in Delhi.
“His addition will provide our tax team the ability to offer pro-active support for tax litigations and add depth to our existing advisory, transactional and litigation support practice,†the firm said in a statement. “Deepak will work closely with our litigation and competition team across all the offices,†it said.
Chopra has represented the government as well as companies in the Supreme Court, High Courts, Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and Authorities for Advance Rulings (AAR). He also worked with advisory firms including KPMG, EY and PwC.
According to a senior partner of a Delhi-based law firm who has worked with Chopra, his ability to simplify complex matters is rare in a field like taxation and especially in areas such as international tax, transfer pricing and indirect tax litigation.
“Litigation and dispute resolution has always been an integral part of any full service law firm and there is no shortage of work in this domain,†said Dinesh Sharma, founder of Personnel Junction, an advisory specialising in legal recruitments.
Chopra had represented Nortel Networks India International Inc against the income tax department in the Delhi High Court in 2014, which had set the precedent on the existence of a permanent establishment under the India US Double Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). He has also represented Pepsico India Holdings against the revenue department in the Delhi High Court which clarified the scope of searches and seizures under the section 132 (1) of the Income Tax Act.
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