Dhruv Rajain

Practice Areas

Dhruv Rajain

Partner; Competition

Dhruv is a Partner with the Competition Practice. His practice includes advising on merger control issues including filing pre-merger notifications with the CCI, advising on compliance and risk assessment, and enforcement matters.

Dhruv’s work has been recognised by Chambers and Partners as ‘Up and coming’ for the last 6 years since he was a Senior Associate in the team. Since 2018, he has grown his practice and leads on numerous complex and strategic transactions.

In terms of antitrust enforcement, he has been involved in high-profile matters including successfully defending Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited in the predatory pricing complaint filed before the CCI by Bharti Airtel Limited. He has also successfully defended Inox Leisure Limited before the CCI in a cartelisation and abuse of dominant position complaint filed by Unilazer Ventures Private Limited. He has also appeared before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (including the erstwhile Competition Appellate Tribunal), the High Court of Bombay and the Supreme Court of India representing Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited/Reliance Industries Limited, Cipla Limited, Adani Gas Limited, and GAIL (India) Limited in writ petitions and appeals arising out of various orders of the CCI. He has also advised and represented clients in leniency applications filed before the CCI and the office of the Director General.

Dhruv advises various companies across private equity, automotive, oil and natural gas, tobacco, manufacturing, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, industrial coatings, eyewear/protection, insurance, telecom, electricity, information technology/IT enabled services and other sectors, with respect to competition compliance, review of business arrangements and risk assessment. He has represented and notified the first telecom merger of India i.e. Reliance Communication Limited/Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited, Reliance Communications Limited/Aircel Limited, and worked on various other transactions including Cube Highways Trust, JSW Steel/ National Steel & Agro Industries, Essilor/Luxottica, Brookfield Asset Management/ Johnson Controls International plc, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ)/CLP India, Warbug Pincus/IndiaFirst Life Insurance, Reliance/Hathway Cable, Vedanta Limited/Electrosteel Steels Limited while also successfully defending Grupo Isolux Corsán in Section 43-A proceedings before the CCI. He has filed a significant number of notifications before the Commission involving complicated InvIT structure and has been at the forefront of the interplay between capital markets and competition.

Key clients: Tata Group, IFC, ADB, Renault Reliance Industries,, CDPQ, CPPIB, Adani Group, Warburg Pincus, , Murugappa Group, , Serum Institute, Biocon Limited, Blackstone, Vedanta, Mahindra and Mahindra Limited,, Allcargo Gati, Cube Highways, NHIT, Isquared Capital, HUL.

Professional Memberships

Bar Council of Delhi, India

Publications

• “Clipping the DG’s and CCI’s Investigative Power: Recent Trends” published on the SCC Online Blog, January 2020, (2020) PL (Comp. L) January 75;

• “Individual Liability in Cartel Cases” published in The Practical Lawyer, September 2018; (2018) PL (Comp.L) September 68;

• “Fourth Order in Less than Two Years: The CCI’s Leniency Regime Gathers Momentum” published on the Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Blog in July 2018;

• Authored the Indian Chapter in The Public Competition Enforcement Review - Edition 10, published by The Law Reviews in May 2018;

• “Exemption from Notifying Within 30 Days: Belated Blessings!” published in Lexology, July 2017;

• “Small Targets Get Relief – MCA Notification Expands Applicability Of Small Target Exemption” published in Lexology, April 2017;

• “Tackling Competition Laws with Clean Teams” published in The Smart CEO, July 2016;

• “Indian Merger Thresholds Revised” published in published in Lexology, March 2016;

• “FRAND Developments—An Indian Competition Law Perspective” published in CPI Antitrust Chronicle October 2015;

• Presented paper on “Inter-relationship between Sectoral Regulators and Competition Commission: Complimentary or Contradictory?” at the SP Sathe Legal Conclave 2013;

• Article accepted for publication, expected to be published in April 2014 in All India Reporter on “Setting aside of an Arbitral Award in the basis of Public Policy”;

• Speaker at the Panel Discussion for “Banking Sector at the Cross-Roads of Disruption: Competition Law Perspective” organised by the Centre for Competition Law & Policy, Jodhpur in March 2019.

Education

Awards