Vaibhav Choukse

Vaibhav is a Partner in the Firm’s Competition Law Practice with over 16 years of experience. He has been practicing competition law since its inception in India, specializing in complex litigation, and merger control, advising clients across diverse industries. His expertise spans complex competition matters before the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and appellate courts.

In litigation/ enforecement, Vaibhav routinely advises multinational corporations and industry associations on cartel investigations, leniency, dawn raids, vertical agreements, abuse of dominance, and competition compliance. He has successfully defended global auto-component manufacturers, a leading tyre company, a leading multiplex operator, and a leading paper company in cartel cases before the CCI. He currently advises leading players in the seed, pharmaceutical, cement, advertising and financial sectors in cartel and vertical restraint investigations. In abuse of dominance matters, he represents Hyundai and Ford Motors in India’s first auto-parts aftermarket abuse case and FabHotels in India’s first MFN case against MakeMyTrip. He also represented Nuziveedu Seeds in abuse of dominance case against Monsanto before the CCI and Delhi High Court. He is also involved in constitutional and procedural challenges to CCI investigations before various High Courts. Recently, he secured a stay on the CCI’s investigation against sellers on a leading e-commerce platform from various High Courts.

In merger control, he has obtained merger control approvals for complex transactions across Form I and Form II, including Temasek’s investments in Manipal Hospitals and Haldiram, ONGC NTPC Green’s acquisition of Ayana Renewable, Coforge–Cigniti, EQT’s investment in Indira IVF and HDFC Credila, IBM’s global MIS spin-off into Kyndryl, the TVS Group restructuring, and the Ford–Mahindra joint venture, among others.

Vaibhav is a prolific author and speaker, contributing to leading competition law journals and business newspapers, and frequently speaking at industry forums. He is recognized among India’s leading competition lawyers by Chambers & Partners, Who’s Who Legal, Global Competition Review, Lexology, Legal 500, Forbes Powelist, and AsiaLaw. In 2024, Vaibhav was named to ALB Asia’s 40 Under 40, distinguishing him as one of Asia’s top young legal talents and the only competition lawyer on the list

He holds a master’s degree in Competition Law from King’s College London, where he had the privilege of studying under Prof. Richard Whish KC (Hon) in EU Competition Law.

Bar Council of Madhya Pradesh

International Bar Association (IBA)

Competition Law Bar Association (India)