DSK Legal has promoted four associate partners to partner and five fee-earners to associate partner level.

Sunil Agarwal, long-time senior tax partner at AZB & Partners Delhi, has left the firm after having been appointed as senior standing counsel for the Government’s Income Tax Department, responsible for cases before the Delhi high court and its subordinate tribunals.

Jyoti Singh, partner at Phoenix Legal in Mumbai in disputes and insolvency, has started a boutique disputes and litigation firm.

Advaita Legal senior partner Atul Dua will be setting up an independent high court chambers practice, after disagreements between him and Advaita’s best friend consultancy firm KPMG.

PDS Legal partner Tarun Gulati, who had joined in 2013 from Economic Laws Practice (ELP), has been designated senior counsel by the Allahabad high court, as part of a mammoth round of 75 new senior advocates.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi disputes partner Surjendu Sankar Das is going independent to set up a Supreme Court advocate-on-record and arbitration practice.

AZB & Partners Mumbai competition counsel Rahul Rai, who we had reported in February to have resigned from AZB’s partnership to take up an of counsel position at the firm, has joined the chambers of senior advocate Gopal Subramanium in Delhi last month, we understand from several sources.

Verus Advocates partner Charles De Souza has started up Meraki Chambers with his team, which he is intending to be a “hybrid between a partnership and a barrister style chamber”.

Economic Laws Practice (ELP) tax partner Anay Banhatti has left and will be starting independent counsel practice, cementing the trend of tax lawyers choosing to join the bar in the lucrative and in-demand practice area.

AZB & Partners Mumbai-based competition lawyer Rahul Rai, has announced internally that he would step down from partnership and take up counsel position at the firm instead (for now).

Khaitan & Co disputes partner Sachin Mandlik is going independent, as had first been reported by Bar & Bench. Meanwhile, we understand that Khaitan is in advanced stages of finalising several senior hires in the space, and it vowed to expand its disputes presence both in Bangalore and Mumbai.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) Mumbai-based disputes equity partner Ravichandra Hegde will be the fourth JSA partner to leave the firm for independent practice, according to a JSA press release yesterday.

Sujit Ghosh, the co-founding partner of two best friends of Big 4 consultancies - BMR Legal and most recently Advaita Legal - is set to leave the firm soon, we have learned.

Wadia Ghandy partner Kunal Vajani, who has been heading its Delhi office, has started up an independent chambers to focus purely on disputes, with an eye to build a UK-style barristers chambers practice.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) Bangalore equity partner Murali Ananthasivan has gone independent to become an independent counsel again.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) equity partner Mansoor Ali Shoket and ex-JSA salaried partner-turned-in-houser Nitin Kala have started Delhi-based regulatory boutique RegLaw Chambers.

Economic Laws Practice (ELP) managing partner Rohan Shah will retire from the firm to become an independent counsel.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) Mumbai partner Somasekhar Sundaresan, one of the top securities lawyers in India, is set to resign and take up independent counsel practice, Legally India understands authoritatively.

DSK Legal Delhi corporate, competition and litigation partner Balbir Singh has resigned from the partnership to begin counsel practise in Delhi.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) Bangalore partner Promod Nair has started an independent arbitration practice.