J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Luthra & Luthra co-ordinated the Rs 62.2 crore ($13.5m) cash and equity acquisition of DLF-owned DT Cinemas chain by entertainment chain PVR.

Another law firm partner has thrown his hat in the ring of local Bar Council elections, with ALMT Legal partner Hitesh Jain running for the Maharashtra & Goa Bar Council on a ticket of improving participation, relevance and infrastructure.

Bharucha & Partners and Khaitan & Co have led on The Blackstone Group’s Rs 300 crore ($64m) investment in logistics company Gateway Rail Freight.

SN Gupta & Co has started up an M&A practice in Mumbai by hiring a Khaitan & Co senior associate as a partner and an associate from Hemant Sahai Associates.

The firm has also taken on new office space in Mumbai and plans to build a litigation team.

Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi has hired a non-Indian qualified competition law specialist as a director in its competition law practice, reports The Lawyer magazine.

The Supreme Court of India has requested Clifford Chance to provide details of its India-billings of more than a decade ago in its long-running dispute against the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (DCIT). The case is important to determine international firms’ income tax liabilities while billing for work in India.

Four-year old Delhi corporate firm Zeus Law Associates has beefed up its practice with the hire of a former US in-houser as a managing associate and three associates fresh out of law schools.

Two partners from Linklaters have resigned to join its Indian best friend firm Talwar Thakore & Associates (TTA) as equity partners.

The firm has also promoted two of its associates to non-equity partner level and put in place a lockstep system.

Linklaters best friend Talwar Thakore & Associates has leased a new office in the Fort area with 70 per cent more floor space, bucking the recent trend of Mumbai firms moving North.

A Supreme Court judge on the Ambani brothers’ gas supply dispute has stepped down, fearing a conflict of interest because of his daughter recently joining AZB & Partners in Bangalore as a partner.

Delhi-based lawyer Madhurendra Nath Jha has been selected to advise the Government of Vietnam on WTO matters as a part of an international team of experts.

Luthra & Luthra has leased a new floor in its existing Delhi building, moving its corporate team of 60 heads into the 7,000 square-foot-area last week.

Desai & Diwanji, DSK Legal and Wadia Ghandy have triple-teamed on the $100m private equity investment into Hyderabad power company Ind-Barath Power Infra.

Luthra & Luthra, AZB & Partners and S&R Associates have pushed up the IPO league tables this October, as J Sagar Associates (JSA) and capital markets specialist firm JurisPrudent Consulting Partners make their entry into the rankings.

FoxMandal Little Delhi partner K.A. Najmi has joined project finance specialist firm India Law Services as a partner to head its Delhi office.

SN Gupta & Co and one-year-old start-up India Legal have advised on Duet India Hotels’ Rs 120 crore ($26m) fund investment in a Hyderabad hotel project with L&T Phoenix Infoparks.

Thakker & Thakker and venture capital (VC) boutique law firms Sand Hill Counsel and Menon Associates have advised on the series A investment into a Hyderabad mobile TV start-up, giving several angel investors a partial exit.

Vaish Associates has recruited two indirect tax law practitioners from Lakshmi Kumaran & Sridharan in a bid to expand its indirect tax law practice.

Trilegal will be the second law firm to move into Lower Parel’s One Indiabulls Centre in November, joining Khaitan & Co in the same Mumbai office block. Trilegal is also moving into its long-planned new office in Delhi this month and preparing for its move in Bangalore.

Hemant Sahai Associates has recruited an AZB senior associate as a partner in Mumbai, after recently merging with Paras Kuhad & Associates to create a national firm called PHA Advocates.