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.
Memberships
- Bar Council of Madhya Pradesh
- International Bar Association (IBA)
- Competition Law Bar Association (India)
Publications
- Chambers Merger Control Guide – India: 2025
- Chambers Antitrust Litigation 2024 – Trends and Development Chapter
- India Chapter for The Cartels & Leniency Review 2024
- Ensuring AI fosters fair play in digital markets – Hindu BusinessLine, July 2025
- Go easy with the digital lasso – Economic Times, March 2024
- Digital Competition Law must be made proactive – The Pioneer, August 2023
- No Poaching Agreements – Threat to competition or good business – CNBC TV18, August 2023
- Antitrust’s Interlock Dilemma – Moneycontrol.com, July 2023
- Sweet & sour for Indian industry – Competition Amendment Bill 2022, Financial Express, August 2022
- Shaping competition law for the digital age, Financial Express, July 2022
- Sailing through COVID-19: A stormy year for CCI – CNBC TV18, May 2021
- Blockchain technology: New frontier of competition law? – Financial Express, May 2021
- Coronavirus crisis: Keeping up with the competition – Financial Express, April 2020
- Digital cartelisation will be a new challenge for the anti-trust regime – Financial Express, August 2018
- No cold-calling: Hiring practices can be an antitrust violation – Financial Express, November 2016
- Shaping Standard Essential Patents policy – Financial Express, August 2016
- DIAL(ing) antitrust – the Financial Express, May 2016
- Disqualified by competition law. Is your job in jeopardy? – Economic Times, November 2015.
- Cartels driving public procurement – Hindu BusinessLine, September 2015.
- Free calling or dialling antitrust? – Financial Express, July 2015
- Antitrust law for a free and fair internet – Hindu BusinessLine, April 2015.
- The debate on essentials – Hindu BusinessLine, March 2015.
- E-tailers and the future of friction-free capitalism – Business Standard, November 2014.
- Sweetheart deals that hurt consumers – Business Standard, September 2014.
- Calculation of Fines in India – In search for some guidance – Global Antitrust Review: Issue 4, 2011.
- BCCI: Caught Behind – The Economic Times, May 2011.
Education
- B.A., LL.B., NLC, Bharati Vidyapeeth, Pune (2008).
- LL. M in Competition Law, Kings College, London (2009).
Languages
- English
- Hindi
