ENVIRONMENT
As India's corporate sector faces growing environmental compliances and CSR requirements, MV Kini guides its clients through India's environmental laws, case law, and latest policy developments of relevance to the corporate sector from a long-term risk management perspective.
We help clients chalk out a compliance strategy - obtaining or renewing environmental permits under the various laws including those relating to the use and management of water, air, forests, chemical substances, hazardous wastes, e-waste, plastic waste, construction & demolition waste, bio-medical waste, ozone depleting substances, insecticides as well as food safety laws. Moreover, our lawyers regularly interact with the respective government agencies supervising these different sets of environmental laws, including the departments in charge of issuing import/export approvals.
We assist companies with their environmental due diligences and assessments of whether an Environmental Clearance / Environmental Impact Assessment needs to be obtained.
Clients are guided through their interactions with the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs), the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the central Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
The firm is skilled in turning around challenging non-compliance situations, such as in a company's immediate post-merger or acquisition phase, or after receiving show cause notices from SPCBs.
Our environmental lawyers throughout India also assist manufacturing companies with obtaining all permits to set up their units, including all EHS-related consents and clearances, fire compliance, factories' law compliances, local body approvals, etc. Our team takes pride in assisting its clients while maintaining highest ethical standards.
Our team monitors closely all environmental cases handled by the National Green Tribunals, High Courts and the Supreme Court and closely collaborates with MVKini's litigation team in this regard, thereby also offering seamlessly integrated legal services to our corporate clients.
We have successfully defended clients in several high-stake litigation cases against government agencies.
The firm assists clients with conveying their feedback on draft environmental laws and guidelines to the MoEF&CC.
Environmental Law Team
Ms. Els Reynaers Kini, Partner, heads the Environmental Law team. She brings with her a wealth of international experience, as a Belgian lawyer who also studied and worked in the United States, prior to qualifying as an Indian lawyer. Els regularly appears in the international 'Who's Who of Environment Lawyers'.
Tavinder Sidhu, Partner, heads the litigation team in New Delhi and in this capacity oversees all environmental cases before the National Green Tribunals, the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court. He regularly represents clients before the MoEF&CC; the Delhi PCB and the Ozone Cell in New Delhi.
Ram P. Varma, Partner, has more than 20 years' experience in corporate litigation and heads MVKini's practise in the southern states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh based out of our Hyderabad office. Ram offers advice on joint ventures and collaborations and helps investors in obtaining licenses and approvals for setting up manufacturing projects in SEZs or green field projects in non-SEZs. He assists our clients in obtaining all consents/ authorizations from SPCBs.
Abhay Itagi, Principal Associate, holds a LL.M. from The George Washington University School of Law in the specialized area of Litigation and International Dispute Resolution. Abhay has been actively involved in arbitrations and dispute settlements for large companies like Air India and ONGC. He represents our corporate clients like NPCIL and NHAI before the National Green Tribunal, Pune, and the Bombay High Court in all environment-related litigation. Abhay also regularly interacts with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and other government agencies to obtain permits/licences for companies setting up their units in Maharashtra.
Mr Kshitez Kaushik, Associate works in our Delhi office and regularly interacts with environmental government agencies in the context of obtaining approvals and registration required under the environment law spectrum, including the MoEF&CC; the CPCB; the Ozone Cell, the Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee (CIBRC), the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and custom authorities. He also appears before the National Green Tribunal, Delhi as well as before the Supreme Court of India.
Ms. Gautambala Nandeshwar, Principal Associate, holds an LL.M. degree from the Mumbai University in Human Rights. Gautambala has extensive experience in the environmental legal field. Before joining our law firm, she was the Standing Counsel of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) in the Mumbai High Court. Gautambala advises corporate clients on all their environmental compliance-related questions. She also regularly interacts with the MPCB and other government agencies to obtain permits/licenses for companies setting up their units in Maharashtra and assists them in constructively resolving any environment related issues.
Key transactions
Highlights of MVKini’s experience includes:
Assisted a large international hazardous waste recycler to obtain its export permit, one of the first ever to be granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests;
The firm has specific expertise with international companies in their interactions with various pollution control boards and the MoEF to turn around challenging non-compliance situations in their immediate post-merger or acquisition phase.
MVKini has also won high-stake litigation cases against government agencies.
Advised the government of Rajasthan during its initiation of the solid waste management project as per the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol.
The firm advises large Indian trade bodies with their submissions to multilateral environmental agreements. It also assists clients in conveying their feedback with more recent environmental laws and government guidelines to government bodies and Ministries.
Publications
Happy to share the latest publication in the Practical Law series – “Environmental Law and Practice in India: Overview” (Update 2021), by Els Reynaers Kini and Gautambala Nandeshwar, M V Kini, available here: https://uk.practicallaw.
Ms. Els Reynaers and Mr. Tavinder Sidhu have prepared the India Chapter for the 16th edition of the International Comparative Legal Guide To: Environment & Climate Change Law 2019 (published by global legal group ltd., London), which you can view by clicking on this link:https://iclg.com/practice-areas/environment-and-climate-change-laws-and-regulations/india
Mr. Tavinder Sidhu and Mr. Kshitez Kaushik examine the status of the much-anticipated national chemical policy in India, in this Expert Focus column of the Chemical Watch magazine in its February edition. The online version is available here (for subscribers): https://chemicalwatch.com/74244/expert-focus-will-indias-draft-national-chemical-policy-be-published-in-2019The pdf version of the article is available here , which is reproduced with permission from Chemical Watch: www.chemicalwatch.com
The latest write-up by Ms. Els Reynaers and Mr. Tavinder Sidhu on "Environmental law and practice in India: overview", published by Thomson Reuters/Practical Law Global Guides, by clicking here: https://lnkd.in/e-zQsK9Environmental Updates:
Our Environmental law team: Ms. Els Reynaers, Mr. Tavinder Sidhu and Mr. Kshitez Kaushik prepared a new Environmental Update which captures the recent developments in the country. This edition talks about the recently developed formula to compute Environmental Compensation, the recent amendment in the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 and waiver from the requirement to have separate CTE the projects which require Environmental Clearance. Read Here The first Environment Newsletter of 2019 prepared by the Environmental law Team: Ms. Els Reynaers, Mr. Tavinder Sidhu and Mr. Kshitez Kaushik is available hereFor Download Environment practice .Click here
Key People
Ms. Els Reynaers Kini, Mr. Tavinder Sidhu Mr Ram P Varma
