We defend companies and individuals in economic offence and regulatory enforcement matters, and we conduct the internal investigations that get to the truth before an agency does. The early decisions, what to preserve, what to say, who to tell, shape everything that follows.
An economic offence mandate moves on two tracks at once, the defence of the matter and the internal understanding of the facts. Both have to be managed from the first day, because what is done early constrains what can be argued later.
Representation in proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, including summons, attachment of property, the adjudicating authority and bail, with attention to the predicate offence on which the case depends.
Defence of SEBI investigations and proceedings, insider trading, fraudulent and unfair trade practices and disclosure default, from the show cause notice to the order and the appeal.
Advice and defence on fraud under the Companies Act, including matters before the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, and the director and officer exposure that attends them.
Independent, privileged internal investigations into whistleblower complaints, accounting irregularities and conduct issues, with findings a board can rely on and act on.
Engagement with investigating agencies, the management of summons and statements, and the protection of rights through search, seizure and examination.
Representation at trial in economic offence matters and the appellate proceedings that follow, including before the High Court and the Supreme Court.
Each stage depends on the discipline of the one before. The preservation protects the position, the investigation establishes the facts, and the defence is built on a record that was handled correctly from the start.
Secure documents and devices, map the exposure, and stop the avoidable mistakes of the first week.
Establish the facts under privilege, so the company knows more about its own matter than anyone else.
Manage summons, statements and document production with the investigating agency on a controlled basis.
Build the defence on the law and the record, contest attachment and seek bail and interim relief where needed.
Carry the matter through trial, settlement where available, and appeal to finality.
Every economic offence matter is read through three lenses at once. The facts have to be established technically and accurately, the commercial reality of the conduct has to be understood, and the legal defence has to be built to last across investigation, trial and appeal.
We establish the facts through a disciplined, privileged investigation of documents, devices and transactions, because a defence built on an accurate record is the only kind that survives cross examination.
We read the conduct in its real business context, distinguishing aggressive but lawful commercial decisions from genuine wrongdoing, so the matter is framed correctly before charges harden around it.
We defend the matter under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the securities laws, the Companies Act and the new criminal code, from the first summons through trial and appeal to finality.
The worst position in an investigation is to learn the facts of your own matter from the agency investigating it. A privileged internal investigation, done early and properly, lets a company decide from knowledge rather than react from fear. It is the single most valuable step in the first weeks of a matter.
The vocabulary that decides outcomes, set out precisely, not loosely.
The Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002, the principal anti-money-laundering statute under which the Enforcement Directorate investigates the proceeds of crime.
The Enforcement Case Information Report, the internal document the Enforcement Directorate records to commence a money-laundering investigation.
A scheduled offence whose commission generates proceeds of crime and triggers the application of the money-laundering provisions.
The attachment of property suspected to be proceeds of crime under Section 5 of the PMLA, subject to confirmation by the Adjudicating Authority.
The new general criminal code that replaces the Indian Penal Code, governing offences such as cheating, criminal breach of trust and forgery.
Short, direct, on the record.
The first priority is to preserve, not to react. Documents and devices that may be relevant should be secured and nothing should be deleted or altered. The second priority is to understand the exposure through privileged advice before any statement is made, because an account given in haste is difficult to correct later. The third is to manage communication, so that the company speaks with one considered voice rather than several inconsistent ones. The instinct to explain everything immediately is usually the most dangerous one.
Because the company that knows its own facts can make decisions from knowledge rather than fear. A privileged internal investigation establishes what actually happened, identifies the real exposure and tells the board where it stands. It supports good decisions on cooperation, on remediation and on personnel, and it prevents the company from being surprised by its own records. Conducted properly and under privilege, it is the foundation of a coherent response rather than a parallel risk.
A money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act depends on a scheduled predicate offence, the alleged crime that generated the proceeds said to have been laundered. The strength and even the existence of the money laundering case is tied to that predicate. Understanding the predicate, its status and its evidence is therefore central to the defence, alongside the questions of attachment of property, the conduct of the adjudication and the approach to bail.
Directors and officers can face personal exposure where fraud is alleged, depending on their role, their knowledge and the steps they took. The defence turns on demonstrating the diligence exercised, the systems in place and the absence of involvement or knowledge where that is the case. This is one reason a privileged internal investigation matters early, since it can separate those genuinely implicated from those swept in by position alone, and can evidence the governance that a defence relies on.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the accompanying procedural and evidence codes have replaced the Indian Penal Code and its associated statutes. For economic offences this means charges are now framed under the new code, and the procedure for investigation, custody and trial follows the new framework. The substance of many offences carries forward, but the references, the section numbers and certain procedures have changed, and matters are now handled under the new regime.
Income tax, transfer pricing, withholding and treaty interpretation
Merger filings, dominance, cartels and CCI proceedings
Civil, commercial, writ and appellate proceedings across the courts
The strongest outcomes are built into the strategy at the start, not recovered from disputes later.