Agastya Legal LLP, a boutique law firm handling economic offences and financial crimes cases, has been launched in Delhi and Chennai.
The firm is headed by former IPN Associates Partner Abhishek Kumar Pandey and Delhi-based advocate Dr. MR Venkatesh.
Agastya Legal intends to address the specialised requirements of cases like Benami transactions, anti-money laundering issues, anti-corruption laws, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code matters, among other cases. The firm will also provide pro-bono services to underprivileged clients.
Pandey was a Partner at IPN Associates LLP till 2016 before setting up his independent counsel practice. While at IPN, he was involved in a number of high profile cases including the competition law matter wherein a penalty of Rs. 420 crore was levied against Hyundai Motors.
Dr Venkatesh is an expert in the field of anti-money laundering laws, anti-black money laws, Direct Taxes and related regulations. He is also a qualified Chartered Accountant and has handled tax-related litigation, company law related matters, mergers and acquisitions as well as family-related disputes.
He said in a press release,
“After Globalisation the inter-disciplinary walls have well and truly broken. In the world of modern finance, what may well have been a clean transaction a decade or two ago might well land you in serious problem today. We at Agastya seek to address this emerging challenge to legal practice through a dedicated boutique firm on economic offences.”
Apart from four Associates, Agastya Legal will also have special counsel Nikhil Mehra and Aparna Raman as part of its team.