13.07.2016
Minutes of the meeting of SILF members held at 3 pm on Monday,
July 11, 2016
at the Hyatt Regency, New Delhi.
The following were present:
Mr. Lalit Bhasin, Bhasin & Co. (President)
Mr. Siddharth Raja, Samvad Partners
Mr. Raman Sharma, AZB and Partners
Mr. Rajiv Luthra, Luthra and Luthra
Mr. Lakshmi Kumaran, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan
Mr. Yakesh Anand, Anand and Anand Associates
Ms. Shivpriya Nanda, JSA
Mr. Vinay Vaish, Vaish Associates
Mr. Hitender Mehta, Vaish Associates
Mr. Suhail Nathani, Economic Laws Practice
Mr. Percival Billimolia, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
Mr. Mohit Saraf, Luthra & Luthra
Mr. Umang Gupta, BPG Law Chambers
Mr. Gautam Khaitan, O.P. Khaitan & Co.
Mr. Anshuman Sood, Virender Sood & Co.
Ms. Namita Chadha, Chadha & Co.
Ms. Manila Sarkaria, Chadha & Co.
Mr. Akshay Jaitly, Trilegal
Mr. Sitesh Mukherjee, Trilegal
Mr. Shardul Shroff, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas
Ms. Pallavi Shroff, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas
Mr. Jatin Aneja, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas
Mr. Rajat Mukherjee, Khaitan & Co.
Mr. Amir Singh Pasrich, I.L.A. Pasrich & Co.
Ms. Priti Suri, PSA
Mr. Dhruv Wahi, Kochhar & Co.
Mr. Saket Shukla, Phoenix Legal

 Mr. Manoj Kumar, Hammurabi & Solomon
Mr. Alok Kumar, THS -The Law Firm
Mr. Atul Dua, Seth Dua & Associates
1. Minutes of the meeting of SILF members held on May 6, 2016 were
read out and were duly confirmed.
2. The President placed before the members the complete building
plan for the SILF building as was discussed in the last meeting. It
was pointed out that for the joint project of SILF – Bar Association of
India building the architects have given an estimate of about 12.5
Crores which will be shared equally by SILF and Bar Association of
India.
The

members

present

were

requested

to

make

substantial

contributions directly or indirectly. Various proposals were put forth
for raising funds. Since the building has to be completed within a
period of 18 months or so it was conveyed to the members that
funds should be organised expeditiously. A building committee was
reconstituted as under :
Mr. Manoj Singh (Convenor)
Mr. Jyoti Sagar
Mr. Rajiv Luthra
Mr. Lakshmi Kumaran
Mr. Gautam Khaitan
Mr. Suhail Nathani
Ms. Pallavi Shroff
Mr. Akshay Jaitly, Trilegal
Mr. Cyril Shroff
Mr. Haigreve Khaitan
Mr. Atul Dua
Mr. Rohit Kochhar

 Ms. Manjula Chawla, Phoenix Legal
Convenor was requested to prepare an action plan for raising funds
and to hold meetings / discussions with other members of the
committee. The committee should give its recommendations to the
President and other office bearers by 20th August, 2016.
3. It was decided to organise an interaction over dinner with the new
Union Minister for Law & Justice, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of
State, Mr. P.P. Chaudhary and the Law Secretary.
4. The President briefed the members regarding the meeting convened
by the Ministry of Law & Justice on 5 th July, 2016 at Shastri Bhawan,
New Delhi to consider Draft Rules framed by Bar Council of India in
connection with registration of foreign lawyers / law firms in India.
The meeting was attended among others by the President and Mr.
Rajiv Luthra, Senior Vice President of SILF. On behalf of SILF it was
conveyed to the worthy Law Secretary who was chairing the
meeting

that

the

Draft

Rules

are

not

consistent

with

the

presentation made by SILF and by the Department of Commerce,
Government of India during the Inter Ministerial Group Meeting held
under the Chairmanship of the Commerce Secretary in January,
2015. The point of view of SILF and Department of Commerce was
duly reflected in the minutes of the Inter Ministerial Group Meeting
circulated by Department of Commerce. The President handed over
copies of the said two documents to the Law Secretary.
It was pointed out to the Law Secretary that the Draft Rules could
have serious implications for the law firms in India as these rules
among other things open the door for foreign law firms to engage
and enter into arrangements with Indian lawyers. Phase-1 has been
given a complete go by.

In this phase there was to be internal

liberalisation of the profession such as permitting LLPs, opening

 websites, permitting brochures etc.

The stand of SILF was duly

supported by Department of Commerce in the meeting.
A large number of SILF members had desired that we should take
time to make a full proper and detailed presentation on this vital
issue.

Accordingly, we requested the Law Secretary to give SILF

four weeks’ time so that the presentation as aforesaid can be
prepared and shared with the Ministry.

The Law Secretary was

gracious enough to allow the request and he also suggested that
SILF should examine whether the proposed Draft Rules would
require amendment of the law.

The meeting was held in a very

cordial atmosphere.
5. There was deep appreciation of the strong stand taken by SILF in the
meeting with the Law Secretary and various suggestions / inputs
were given. In order to expedite the preparation of a proper and
detailed presentation to be made in the next meeting to be
convened by the Ministry, it was decided to constitute a Committee
which should prepare the draft recommendations to be placed
before the SILF members meeting to be held in the first week of
August, 2016. The Committee would constitute of the following :
Mr. Lakshmikumaran - Chair
Mr. Jyoti Sagar - Co-Chair
Mr. Shardul Shroff
Mr. Cyril Shroff
Ms. Zia Mody
Mr. Nishith Desai
Mr. Haigreve Khaitan
Mr. Percy Billimoria
Mr. Mohit Saraf - Convenor
Ex Officio Members

 Mr. Lalit Bhasin, President
Mr. Rajiv Luthra, Senior Vice President
Mr. Rohit Kochhar, Secretary
Ms. Manjula Chawla, Treasurer
6. The

President

informed

the

members

about

other

activities

undertaken by SILF since the last meeting and also informed the
members about the future activities / collaborations / sponsorships.
These were duly approved.
The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the Chair.
LALIT BHASIN
President