Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi has hired a non-Indian qualified competition law specialist as a director in its competition law practice.

EU and competition associate Paku Khan is to join Amarchand next January from Irish corporate firm A&L Goodbody, as first reported by the The Lawyer magazine’s print edition today.

He will be working with Amarchand partner and the head of its competition practice Pallavi Shroff.

Khan was born in the US to Indian parents and moved to Ireland in 2002 to work for the Competition Authority.

While there he advised competition cases concerning Microsoft, Ryan Air and AerLingus, reported The Lawyer.

Shroff said that Khan was not an Indian qualified lawyer yet.

Due to the restrictions on foreign lawyers practising in India, explained Shroff, Khan would not be able to sign off on opinions or give legal advice and would be supervised by her throughout.

“We realise the restrictions that exist and intend to work within the four corners of the law,” she stressed, adding: “He’s a great resource.”

Khan told The Lawyer that he would be advising both indigenous Indian companies branching out into Europe and the US as well as European and US companies moving into the Indian market, adding that the latter tend to have more familiarity with the rigours of competition compliance.

“I am very flattered Amarchand chose me,” Khan told The Lawyer. “India is a relatively greenfield competition regime and the opportunities are mind boggling.”

Amarchand’s core competition team numbers around six lawyers in Delhi where the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is headquartered, operating with some support from Amarchand’s Mumbai office.

Shroff told Legally India: “[CCI] is a new authority it’s going to take it’s time to settle down and to grow and develop its own jurisprudence.

“It is a very exciting stage in India.”