Pranav Budihal
Foreign Counsel
Pranav Budihal is a Foreign Counsel with the firm and specializes in international arbitration.
Pranav is a dual qualified lawyer and is permitted to practice as an Advocate in India and as a Solicitor in England & Wales. He holds a LL.M (International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution) from the National University of Singapore and a B.B.A.LL.B (Hons) from the National Law University Odisha, India.
Prior to joining Providence Law Asia, Pranav was a Deputy Counsel with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). As part of his role at SIAC, Pranav assisted the SIAC Secretariat and the Court in administering more than 200 international arbitrations under the SIAC and UNCITRAL Rules. As part of his role at SIAC, Pranav assisted in appointing arbitrators, resolving various requests such as for emergency interim reliefs, expedited procedure, consolidation and joinder. Pranav has also worked with a boutique disputes firm in India. His experience includes representing clients before the High Court of Karnataka and various lower courts, administrative courts and arbitral tribunals.
Pranav also regularly teaches international arbitration at various universities and publishes in academic journals and blogs. He is fluent in English and conversant in Kannada, Hindi and Telugu.
Admissions
- Advocate, Bar Council of India
- Solicitor, England & Wales (Non-Practicing)
Professional Experience
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Administered various energy and infrastructure disputes governed by Indian law, English law and Singapore law. The disputes involved issues ranging from invocation of a guarantee executed as part of a series of contracts between affiliate entities across South Asia and Europe; delay and disruption issues; prolongation costs; interpretation of turnkey contracts; breach of non-disclosure agreements and non-circumvention obligations.
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Administered various corporate and joint venture disputes involving complex company structures, shareholder and share purchase agreements; investor exits; management of companies; misrepresentation claims; breach of warranty allegations; and misconduct by senior management.
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Assisted tribunals on various issues of international arbitration law and substantive applicable Indian law. These pertained to various issues in respect of the conduct of arbitrations; and issues under Indian law in respect of insolvency, intellectual property rights and stamp duty, among others.
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Assisted the SIAC Court in interpreting and applying the SIAC Rules on issues such as compatibility of arbitration agreements for consolidation, interpretation of the ‘prima facie’ standard for jurisdictional objections, issues surrounding the grant of applications for expedited procedure, joinder and appointment of emergency arbitrators, and drafted decisions on of challenges to arbitrators.
Commercial Arbitration
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Represented a Fortune 500 company in an arbitration and associated litigation before the Karnataka High Court in a USD 20 million construction dispute. The key claims related to delays in obtaining regulatory approvals, quality defects in construction, variations to scope of work, non-payment of invoices, and force majeure claims basis erratic climatic conditions.
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Represented a construction services company in an ad hoc Mumbai-seated arbitration on the breach of an exclusivity agreement. The arbitration involved extensive discovery of documents and cross-examination of multiple expert witnesses.
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Represented an Indian manufacturing company against a prominent Indian public sector company for breach of an EPC contract relating to the construction of a power plant in Syria. The dispute involved claims of force majeure on account of the Syrian civil war, and related proceedings before the Delhi High Court for grant of an injunction against a call on a bank guarantee.