Delhi High Court order staying Mohit Saraf's removal from L&L to be kept in abeyance till Friday; Rajiv Luthra to appeal

The Delhi High Court has agreed to keep in abeyance its judgment passed today staying the removal of Mohit Saraf from the partnership of L&L Partners till Friday, January 22. .".. it is directed that the operation of the direction, given in the judgment, shall remain in abeyance till January 22, 2021.", the order passed by Justice V Kameswar Rao reads. .Request for staying the operation of the judgment was made by counsel for Rajiv Luthra..It is understood that Founder and Managing Partner Rajiv Luthra will approach a Division Bench against the order tomorrow. .In today's judgment, the Single Judge Bench prima facie held that Saraf's termination from the partnership of the firm was not in good faith. The Senior Partner's termination was thus stayed till the conclusion of the arbitration proceedings between Saraf and Luthra..On the induction of 23 new equity partners by Saraf and 2 by Luthra, the Court noted,"I have serious doubt on the stand of the parties, for the reason that the induction of partners could have only taken place with the approval of the other partner. It is the case of the parties here, no approval was taken by the opposite party for the induction of respective partners by them. In the absence of any approval, no induction of partner could have been made.So, it follows on acceptance of withdrawal/retirement of the respondent by the petitioner in terms of email dated October 12, 2020 or termination of partnership of the petitioner vide email dated October 13, 2020 by the respondent, the partnership stood dissolved.".In his petition before the Delhi High Court under Section 9 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, Saraf pressed for the restoration of "last uncontested status" at L&L Partners while his dispute with Luthra is referred to arbitration..The relationship between the two senior-most partners at L&L Partners turned sour after they reached an impasse over the dilution of the firm's equity..Is L&L Partners heading towards a split? Mohit Saraf apologizes to firm's lawyers after ugly spat with Rajiv Luthra on Zoom call.Read the Order: