KK Sharma ex-Director General of CCI sets up a Competition Law boutique law firm KK Sharma Law Offices established in New Delhi

Kaushal Kumar Sharma, former Director General and Head of Merger Control in Competition Commission of India (CCI) has recently set up a boutique law firm ‘KK Sharma Law Offices’. The law firm was launched on October 18, 2012..Kaushal Kumar Sharma (pictured), former Director General and Head of Merger Control in Competition Commission of India (CCI) has recently set up a boutique law firm ‘KK Sharma Law Offices’. The law firm was launched on October 18, 2012..The new firm will mainly focus on competition law-related aspects. The office is located in Asiad Village, New Delhi and has a capacity to accommodate 15-16 lawyers. Speaking to Bar & Bench, KK Sharma said, “Right now, I have appointed one lawyer who is still serving his notice period and my target is to appoint about 9 lawyers in the next one year.”.Sharma, who recently took voluntary retirement from the post of Commissioner of Income Tax, was deputed to the CCI in 2006. He worked at the CCI for five and a half years before returning to his previous job as the Commissioner of Income Tax..At the CCI, Sharma was involved in drafting laws and regulations on competition law and its actual implementation in India. As per the firm’s press release, Sharma laid down the framework of investigation as the first DG after the commencement of enforcement of competition law and, later conceptualized the Merger Review Format as the first Head of Merger Division in India. He was also involved in overseeing the first Merger Reviews in India..Sharma joined the Indian Revenue Services in 1987 and has more than 20 years of experience working in the Income Tax Department. He is a graduate of Meerut University and also has a PG Diploma in Economics from King’s College, London. Right now he is pursuing a Ph. D. in competition law from Bangor University, UK..Talking about his decision to set up a competition law firm despite having more than 20 years of experience working in the Income Tax Department, Sharma said, “I am very passionate about competition law which is still at a very nascent stage. There is so much of work and demand in this area of practice. I would like to totally focus in this area and develop this practice. Later, if I have the bandwidth, we can think of Direct Taxes as the likely logical expansion route”..The firm also has associate offices in Mumbai and Brussels.