Veritas Legal

Anupam Mittal - People Interactive (India) Private Limited 

Our Client, Anupam, has, filed an oppression & mismanagement proceeding in the National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai against certain shareholders. An Investor filed a proceeding in Singapore High court and obtained an ex parte anti suit injunction against Anupam from proceeding with the proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai. In turn, we, on behalf of Anupam filed an anti-enforcement suit before the Bombay High Court to nullify the effect of the ex parte injunction of the Singapore High Court on certain grounds including that acts of oppression cannot be arbitrated under Indian law. Through lawyers in Singapore, we also filed an application in the Singapore High Court to vacate the ex parte injunction, which was rejected. It is pertinent to mention that in the meantime, Westbridge has filed contempt proceedings in the Singapore High Court which is being defended by our client.  Separately, Westbridge has commenced the ICC Arbitration on certain contractual issues between the parties.

The judgment passed in the proceedings in Singapore decides the point of law as to whether the law of the seat of arbitration or proper law of the arbitration agreement should be applied to determine the arbitrability of disputes.

This was awarded Impact Case of the Year by Asialaw Awards 2022 and was also selected as 'Impact Case of the Year' award at the Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific Awards 2023 and 2024.

Kedaara - Religare

Religare Health Insurance Co. Ltd. was a debt-loaded company prior to the capital infusion by Kedaara Capital, coupled with being embroiled in controversy owing to the legacy issues surrounding the parent company, which was a subject matter of a well-known allegation of fraud and wrongdoing against the Singh brothers of Ranbaxy. Accordingly, Veritas was confronted with the daunting task of safeguarding Kedaara by exercising extra caution and care conducting the risk assessment to ensure mitigation of Kedaara’s risk, and providing for adequate liability insulation by coming up with a viable structure considering the Byzantine regulatory and litigation issues of the company, making the due diligence a critical aspect. Religare being a listed company, was under constant and extensive regulatory scrutiny, making the risk assessment most essential for Kedaara. Also, given the pandemic situation, for the team to ensure timely actions with the remote working model was also challenging. Lastly, the deal entailed effective representations by the team to not only schedule the country’s first virtual consultation with CCI but also obtaining the first fast-track approval during the national lockdown.

It was the practical expertise in the field coupled with mature and prudent handling by the team that enabled the matter to effectively reach the finish line. For a firm of our size and age to be trusted with a matter of this kind of complexity and sensitivity, is nothing short of an achievement for the team.

This deal has been recognized amongst the ‘Deals of The Year - 2020’ by India Business Law Journal.

Deloitte Litigation

This was a highly complex litigation involving various for across the country. It entailed protecting our client Deloitte’s goodwill, reputation and credibility, and their basic right to practice as auditors in India. Veritas has been the trusted advisor to Deloitte since the inception of the investigations, and that for a firm our size and age was in itself commendable. This matter was particularly complicated given the several parallel proceedings and investigations, both civil and criminal, with the constant impending risk that a defense in any one could jeopardize the defense in the other. We appeared and succeeded before tribunals which we had never dealt with in the past.

Such intense and multiple proceedings against the role of auditors in relation to business failures is unprecedented. The implication and repercussions of the outcome of these litigations will have an effect on businesses as our client alone audits approximately 27% of the market cap in India. Unwillingness or hesitancy on the part of auditors to sign accounts, especially in listed Companies, can have a spiraling effect on the results, confidence of the investors and lenders, and ultimately on the stock market. Therefore, the various litigations are not only complex, but the outcome of these will be far-reaching not only on the economy, but also impact the profession of auditing as a whole. And it is a matter of great pride for us to be associated with a matter of such significance.

This deal has been recognized amongst the ‘Deals of The Year - 2020’ by India Business Law Journal.