• LLM, University of Cambridge
  
• LLB (Hons), Queen Mary College, University of London
  MBA, University of Birmingham
  Advocate & Solicitor, Singapore
  Barrister-at-law (Middle Temple, London)

Prakash says
"These are exciting times for lawyers. The practice of law has become a truly global affair and as a disputes lawyer, I am enjoying immensely the challenges that the changes in the legal landscape have brought.”^Prakash is the Head of the Firm's South Asia Practice and leads the Firm's initiatives in the South Asian, particularly Indian, market. He is also a Partner in the Firm's International Arbitration Practice Group.

Prakash’s main focus is on international commercial arbitrations, as well as on commercial litigation.  He has extensive experience in international commercial arbitration and commercial litigation work and has appeared in a broad spectrum of contentious matters before various arbitral tribunals, as well as the High Court and Court of Appeal of Singapore.  He has also acted in a number of significant and landmark cases in the areas of shareholders’ disputes, commercial, contractual and tortious disputes, defamation, restitutionary claims, insolvency litigation and property-related disputes.

Prakash graduated from Queen Mary College, the University of London and did part of his undergraduate law degree in the University of Leiden in the Netherlands on a student scholarship.  Prakash also has a Masters degree in law from University of Cambridge, as well as a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Birmingham.  Prakash was admitted to the English Bar (Middle Temple) in 1995 and became an advocate and solicitor in Singapore in 1998.  He worked in the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 1997 as a Foreign Service Officer.

Prakash is also an established author and is a Contributing Editor of the Singapore White Book, a globally recognised publication on Civil Procedure.  Prakash’s article entitled ‘The Primary of the Principle of Reciprocity in the Singapore Land Regime’, which discusses the land regime in Singapore relating to adjoining properties, has been cited in the leading land law textbook Elements of Land Law (4th Edition) published by the Oxford University Press.  Prakash also contributes articles regularly to the Singapore newspapers and the main Law Society publication, the Singapore Law Gazette.

Prakash sits on various committees of the Law Society and is the Vice-Chairman of the Public and International Law Committee.  He is a Board Member and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Certis CISCO Security Pte Ltd (Singapore’s largest security company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings), the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (where he chairs the Professional Wing Sub-Committee) and TiE Singapore Ltd.  He was also formerly an adjunct Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore teaching Indian Business Law.

Experience

Prakash has extensive experience in both contentious and non-contentious work and his significant cases include the following:

A. Commercial & Corporate Litigation

• Represented Singapore Telecommunications Limited, in its defence against a claim in restitution in the High Court by the Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore, a statutory body, for the sum of $388 million.  This was a landmark case in the area of restitution, in particular the doctrine of mistake, and was the first such litigation of its kind in Singapore involving a statutory body against a government-linked company.
• Represented City Developments Limited, one of Singapore’s largest developers, in its defence against a claim in the High Court (and subsequent appeal in the Court of Appeal) for alleged misrepresentation and breach of contract in relation to certain brochures which the company had issued to market its properties.
• Represented Pacific Century Regional Development Ltd, a company controlled by Mr Richard Li, a Hong Kong based businessman, in its defence against a claim in the High Court (and subsequent appeal in the Court of Appeal) for damages based on an alleged breach of a shareholders’ agreement, quantified as almost HK$300 million.
• Represented Vandashima (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a company in the business of distributing silicones, epoxy, semiconductor and telecommunications materials, in a claim against an ex-employee for damages and an injunction for breaches of an employment contract and breaches of fiduciary duties.
• Represented a shareholder of a local company engaged in the management of tea cafes, with the brand name known as "Teaspa", in a claim in the High Court for injunctive relief and damages arising from a dispute over the terms of a shareholders' agreement.
• Represented United Motor Works Pte Ltd, a local automotive company, in a claim in the High Court by a shareholder against the company for injunctive relief to restrain a complex divestment exercise being undertaken by the company.
• Represented Merrill Lynch International Bank Ltd in its claim in the High Court for US$25 million against an ex-employee for breach of an employment contract.

B. International Arbitration

• Representing a major Indian company engaged in the business of establishing and operating satellite system infrastructure in defending claims amounting to about US$200 million by a Bermuda-based satellite operator arising from alleged breaches of a satellite capacity agreement.
• Representing a Singapore company in a major dispute with its Indonesian joint venture partner over an Indonesian plantation project.
• Represented a major Iranian manufacturing company in an international arbitration under the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) procedural rules arising from a contractual dispute with a leading Singapore manufacturing company and its Japanese parent company in relation to a claim in excess of US$40 million.
• Represented a leading international bank in an ad hoc international arbitration that arose from a contractual dispute (the contract being governed by Thai law) over the sale and purchase of a hotel resort in Thailand. 
• Represented a Swedish entity in an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration involving a major dispute over a shareholders' agreement.
• Represented a leading Indian construction company in a dispute with a Malaysian entity relating to fabrication works for oil platforms.

C. Property And Construction Litigation

• Represented Xpress Print Pte Ltd in its appeal in the Court of Appeal against Monocrafts Pte Ltd in relation to damage caused by the latter’s excavation works carried out on an adjoining property.  The Xpress Print case has been acknowledged internationally by foreign commentators as an important development in the legal regime concerning adjoining properties.  It has, in particular, been referred to in the leading land law text “Elements of Land Law” (4th Edition), published by the Oxford University Press, as a decision to be followed by Courts in other jurisdictions.
• Represented Frontfield Investment Holdings Ltd, an investment company, in its application in the High Court to extinguish a right of way or easement enjoyed by adjacent landowners over a piece of land.  This was the first known case in Singapore of its kind involving the extinguishment of property rights on the basis of the doctrine of abandonment.
• Represented the wholly owned subsidiary of Nylect Technology Limited, a listed mechanical and electrical company, in its appeal in the Court of Appeal, arising out of a complex dispute with the main contractor over electrical works carried out.  The issues in the appeal focused primarily on the interpretation of the liquidated damages clauses in the contract.
• Represented a subsidiary of Tuan Sing Holdings Limited, a listed developer, in a claim in the High Court by the Management Council of a condominium for damages for building defects in relation to the construction of the condominium.

D. Insolvency Litigation

• Represented Garuda Airlines, Indonesia’s national airline, in its application in the High Court under the Singapore Companies Act for sanction of a scheme of arrangement, involving a scheme debt of more than US$350 million.  The scheme of arrangement was sanctioned in parallel by both the English and Singapore Courts, and involved litigation in both these jurisdictions initiated by an opposing creditor of the company.
• Represented the receiver and manager of a company known as Roberto Building Material Pte Ltd in his successful defence against a claim in the High Court for US$50 million for alleged breaches of duty as receiver and manager.

E. Defamation Litigation

• Represented a group of members of the Singapore Chess Federation in a High Court action (and subsequent appeal in the Court of Appeal) for internet defamation against members of the Federation's Executive Committee.

F. South Asian Cross-Border Corporate Transactions

• Advised an Indian group of companies in the education sector on the sale of shares in a Singapore incorporated holding company to a Malaysian based private equity fund.
• Advised a Singapore company in a proposed joint venture with a leading Indian company in the logistics sector in India.
• Advised an India developer on a proposed joint venture with a Singapore company in a portfolio of projects in the state of Maharashtra including townships, Special Economic Zones, retail malls, residential and hospitality projects.
• Advised a Singapore company on a proposed joint venture with an Indian venture capital fund in relation to the development of real estate in Chennai.
• Advised a Singapore company in relation to a proposed investment in an Indian company that held shares in other Indian companies that were engaged in the development of retail, commercial, hotel and residential projects in various cities across India.
• Advised a Singapore company on a proposed joint venture with an Indian company dealing in financial products in relation to the provision of warehousing management services.
• Advised the Singapore International Arbitration Centre on its collaboration with the Construction Industry Development Council of India, which eventually led to the setting up of an Arbitration Centre in New Delhi known as the Construction Industry Arbitration Council for the expedient and effective resolution of construction-related disputes in India.

Court Cases

Reported Cases

• Lim Bio Hiong Roger v City Developments Ltd [1999] 4 SLR 451
• Xpress Print Pte Ltd v Monocrafts Pte Ltd & Another [2000] 3 SLR 545
• Canadian Imperial Investment Pte Ltd v Pacific Century Regional Developments Limited [2000] 4 SLR 645
• Pacific Century Regional Development Ltd v Canadian Imperial Investment Pte Ltd [2001] 2 SLR 443
• Frontfield Investment Holding (Pte) Ltd v Management  Corporation Strata Title No 938 and Others [2001] 3 SLR 627
• Info-Communications Development Authority of Singapore v  Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (No 1) [2002] 3 SLR 289
• Info-Communications Development Authority of Singapore v Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (No 2) [2002] 3 SLR 488
• Re Sher Jules QC [2002] 4 SLR 41
• Roberto Building Material Pte Ltd & Others v Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited & Another [2003] 2 SLR 237
• Tan Chor Chuan and Others v Tan Yeow Hiang Kenneth and Others [2006] 1 SLR 16
• Tan Yeow Hiang Kenneth and Others v Tan Chor Chuan and Others [2006] 1 SLR 557

Unreported Judgments

• CEF (Capital Markets) Ltd and Another v Goh Chin Soon and Others [2000] SGHC 92
• CEF (Capital Markets) Ltd and Another v Goh Chin Soon [2001] SGHC 342
• Tan Chor Chuan and Others v Tan Yeow Hiang Kenneth and Others [2004] SGHC 259
• Vandashima (Singapore) Pte Ltd and Another v Tiong Sing Lean and Another [2006] SGHC 132

Memberships/Directorships

• Board Member, Certis CISCO Security Pte Ltd 
• Chairman, Audit Committee, Certis CISCO Security Pte Ltd 
• Board Member, Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry
• Chairman, Professional Wing Sub-Committee, Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry
• Board and Executive Committee Member, TiE Singapore Limited 
• Legal Advisor, Singapore Institute of Food Science and Technology 
• Member, Law Society of Singapore 
• Vice-Chairman, Public and International Law Committee, Law Society of Singapore
• Member, Publications Committee, Law Society of Singapore
• Member, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, Law Society of Singapore
• Member, Singapore Academy of Law
• Member, Singapore Institute of International Affairs

Publications

• Contributing Editor, Singapore White Book (2003)
• Contributing Editor, Singapore White Book (2007)
• ‘The Primacy of the Principle of Reciprocity in the Singapore Land Regime’, Singapore Academy of Law Journal [2001] 13 SAcLJ
• ‘The Smiling Sun: Journey to Sula Vineyards’, Singapore Law Gazette, September 2008
• ‘Don’t Gauge India From Its Current Predicament’, Business Times, 4 August 2009
• ‘The Painfullest Task in the Realm: Interview with Lord Peter Goldsmith’, Singapore Law Gazette, August 2009
• ‘Saving The Indian Tiger’, Business Times 19-20 June 2010