DSK Legal

Competition/Antitrust

Partner

Abdullah Hussain is a partner at the firm, with over 15 years of experience in competition law practice.

Abdul has been involved in this practice area since the formative stages of the Competition Act, during which time he has assisted the Government of India, and the then newly constituted Commission, in the formulation of its rules and regulations. Significant assignments undertaken in this area include preparing the CCI Regulations relating to mergers, determination of cost, general procedure, etc, and preparation of a report on India’s Competition Policy as part of the working group on competition policy set up by the Planning Commission of India in 2006. More recently, he was instrumental in drafting and coordinating the submission of the Cartels Working Group of the International Bar Association to the amendments to the CCI’s Lesser Penalty Regulations.

Abdul has acted for clients across numerous sectors, including cement, aviation, pharmaceuticals, auto parts, e-commerce, paper, shipping, IT and ITeS, biotechnology, agriculture, and private equity investments.

Notable Enforcement representations include:

Biocon and Mylan in their abuse of dominance case against Roche; Dalmia Cement in multiple cement cartelization matters; JSW Paints in its abuse of dominance case against Asian Paints; ITC in a paper cartel allegation; GMR in defending an abuse of dominance allegation by Air Works; and NYK Line in a global shipping line cartel.

Notable M&A representations include:

Bayer in its acquisition of Monsanto; JSW Steel in its acquisition of Bhushan Power; Carlyle in its investment into Delhivery; GMR in the investment by Tata, GIC, and SSG into its airports business; ITC in its acquisition of certain brands from Johnson & Johnson; and AES Corporation in the sale of its shareholding in OPGC.

He has authored several articles on current competition law issues, is a guest faculty at the IICA’s School of Competition Law & Market Regulation, and is a regular speaker at various conferences and seminars including the Competition Roundtable at the Canadian High Commission, the India-United State Cross Border Investment Conference, the 3rd International Competition Law Conference, and the 6th CUTS-CIRC Biennial Conference on Competition, Regulation and Development.

Awards & Recognitions

He has been recognised amongst Top 10 Antitrust & Competition Lawyers of India by Legal Era, 2022.

He is also one of the Ranked Lawyers for Competition/Antitrust in the Chambers & Partners Asia-Pacific Guide, Legal 500, as well as recognized by Who’s Who Legal.

English and Hindi

Member, Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh Member, Delhi High Court Bar Association Member, Competition Law Bar Association Member, Supreme Court Bar Association Cartels Working Group of the International Bar Association

LL.M; The London School of Economics & Political Science; B.A.B.L (Hons.); National Academy of Legal Studies and Research