Sudipta Bhattacharjee

Practice Areas

Indirect Taxes & Customs

Career

Sudipta is a lawyer with close to 20 years of experience, specializing in advisory, investigations, litigations (across all levels), contractual disputes and allied aspects of contract documentation/negotiation/disputes etc apropos indirect taxes (Including GST, customs, international trade laws, pre-GST indirect taxes, State Excise laws affecting alcoholic beverages sector as well as building/labour cess). In 2020, he was recognized by Businessworld Legal as amongst the top 40 of India’s finest lawyers under the age of 40 [BWLegal40under40].

Sudipta works with clients across a wide range of sectors spanning new economy sectors like online gaming, healthcare, crypto/NFTs, e-commerce etc as well as traditional sectors like manufacturing, oil & gas, mining, alcoholic beverages, real estate etc. He is a trusted advisor to reputed clients like Uber, Gameskraft Technologies, Diageo/ United Spirits, Binance, Beam Suntory, GSPL, Commscope Technologies, BALCO, Cairn Energy, Vedanta Ltd., ICICI Bank etc.

Sudipta has been recognized as “Highly Regarded” in Indirect Tax by World Tax (The comprehensive guide to the world's leading tax firms) since 2020 and has been repeatedly recognized for ‘Indirect Tax’ for India by the International Tax Review since 2017. He has also been ranked for ‘Tax’ in Chambers & Partners as well as Legal500. Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific rankings have recognized Sudipta as a ‘Litigation Star’ for Tax (India, 2024).

Sudipta has authored a treatise on how GST applies vis a vis various types of EPC and construction contracts – this was published by Taxmann Publications and has received rave reviews; it is already on its tenth edition.

Sudipta has been deeply involved in many high-profile GST and Customs litigations and has conceptualized and filed several precedent-setting writ petitions on various tax issues for various Indian and MNC clients. In 2023, a team led by Sudipta won a Rs 21,000 crore (around US$ 3 Billion) GST matter affecting the entire online gaming sector in India, before Karnataka High Court – the biggest ever tax demand in India. This is now being litigated before the Supreme Court.

Further, a team led by Sudipta has obtained and repeatedly defended favorable interim orders from Delhi High Court in a Rs 60,000 crore (around 7.8. Billion USD) matter for 16 banks in a service tax/GST issue affecting the whole banking sector.

Sudipta was also engaged vis a vis transition advisory during introduction of VAT regime in the Middle East in 2017-18, apart from several GST transition assignments in India.

He regularly speaks at various prestigious conferences. He has been quoted extensively by and has also published several articles in leading newspapers and publications.

Professional Memberships

National Indirect Tax Committee of ASSOCHAM

Education