The TMT Law Practice half of the Bharucha & Partners merger partner, Arthe Law, has gone independent again in Delhi under original founding partner Abhishek Malhotra.

Bharucha co-founding partner Alka Bharucha commented earlier today: “He was doing a lot of counsel practice and will do well on his own.”

Litigation partner DP Singh and everybody else who had joined as part of Arthe, other than four of Malhotra’s juniors, would continue with Bharuchas, she said.

We have reached out to Malhotra yesterday, who was unavailable for detailed comment.

In a statement that went out today, Malhotra said: “I am extremely pleased with the return to home turf and also humbled by the support of clients and colleagues in the industry for this new beginning.”

In October 2017 Bharucha had merged with Delhi-headquartered Arthe Law, which itself was the product of the April 2017 merger between Malhotra’s TMT Law Practice and former additional advocate general DP Singh’s litigation and disputes practice.

Malhotra is a 1999 NLSIU Bangalore graduate, who had started his career at Anand & Anand and DSK Legal before setting up TMT in 2008.

Malhotra and the firm specialise in technology, media and telecoms work, but would also advise in general corporate and commercial litigation.

The new set-up, would also include a small Mumbai office, according to Malhotra.

At Bharucha & Partners, the merger had signposted a new era in, what was fundamentally, still perceived to have been a family-founded and -run firm, with co-founding partner MP Bharucha saying at the time of the merger: “Apart from the clear practical advantages, from the firm management point of view, the Partners coming in only add one more vote each from like-minded lawyers.”