L&L Partners saga rages on as Rajiv Luthra terminates Mohit Saraf from partnership for "clumsy strategy" on equity dilution

The ongoing tiff between the two senior-most partners at L&L Partners shows no signs of abating.

In response to Senior Partner Mohit Saraf's email intimating the firm of Founder Rajiv Luthra's exit, the latter has now hit back with an email of his own.

Luthra has pointed out the lack of legal sanctity of the content of Saraf's email, as per which he was put on "imaginary retirement/withdrawal" from the firm. Claiming that Saraf has acted against the terms of the partnership deed, Luthra has now terminated him from the partnership of the firm. The email states,

"Over the last many months, Mr. Saraf indulged in many acts and deeds that constitute material breach of the terms of the Partnership Deed and are gravely prejudicial to the interest of the Firm, and in complete bad faith. The e-mail/notice sent yesterday is the proverbial last nail in the coffin – leaving me no option but to terminate Mr. Saraf’s partnership, which was done earlier this morning.

Mr. Saraf is now stripped of all authority and standing, and has no authority to instruct you or otherwise to act on behalf of the Firm. No one should fall into the trap of accepting any non-existent equity, which he wants to offer to anyone, and further complicate matters."

Luthra has clarified that all teams will be intact and associates at all level must take guidance from their respective partners.

With a view to allaying the concerns of the firm members, Luthra has assured the continuity of the functions of the firm, and has stated that payments will be released on time.

Yesterday, Saraf announced the retirement of Luthra and put forth his idea for the reconstitution of the corporate partnership. He had also made clear his intention to reconstitute the firm by inducting salaried partners into the corporate practice as equity partners.

Saraf had also announced a number of promotions across the firm, after Luthra had earlier inducted two equity partners - Aniket Sengupta and Harish Kumar.

With no end in sight to the deadlock between the firm's top management, it is likely that the issue will find itself before the courts, sooner rather than later.