Manu Sanan

Advocate and Principal

Manu has substantial experience across prominent international jurisdictions in contentious matters involving commercial disputes, arbitration and arbitration-related litigation, customs and indirect taxation, sector-specific regulatory disputes, white-collar, international trade and WTO law, investment treaty disputes, and public international law.

He acts for private and sovereign clients in a variety of cases before the courts in India (including the Indian Supreme Court), before international tribunals constituted under the ICC, SIAC, HKIAC, DIS, ICSID, and UNCITRAL rules, and before WTO Panels. Among others, he has acted as counsel in several high-value disputes involving issues of national security, international taxation, commodity taxation, and industry-specific contract law obligations.

Manu also serves as an arbitrator on the panel of various arbitral institutions and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb). He regularly lectures and teaches short courses on international dispute settlement. He remains a consulting editor for ‘Trade, Law and Development’—a leading academic journal he co-founded in 2009.

Before establishing his practice in New Delhi, Manu worked for over a decade at top-tier law firms in New Delhi, New York, and London.

Highlights

X (France) v. Y (Switzerland): Acted for a French individual in an arbitration (HKIAC rules, seated in Hong Kong) relating to the ownership of shares in a Hong Kong entity.

X (US) v. Y (Chile): Acted for X, a software company, in an arbitration (AAA rules, seated in Miami) relating to the operation of a software under a SAAS agreement.

India — Tariff Treatment on certain goods in the ICT Sector: Acted for India in parallel WTO panel proceedings instituted by Japan, the EU, and Taiwan relating to tariff measures on certain ICT products.

X (Netherlands and UK) v. India: Acted for India in parallel treaty arbitrations (UNCITRAL rules) under the India-Netherlands BIT 1995 and the India-UK BIT 1994 in treaty disputes relating to retrospective tax measures.

Publications

Arbitrating issues of Corruption in India: An Uncharted Beginning World Arbitration and Mediation Review (3) (2016) 407 — 436

The consistency of capital flow regulation under the US Model BIT, 2012 vis à vis the IMF and the WTO Trade and Investment Research Papers, Graduate Institute (Geneva) (2015)

The White Industries Award — Shades of Grey The Journal of World Investment and Trade 13 (2012) 661 — 686

International Investment Law — Questions riddling an Answer 2(1) Trade Law & Development 9 (2010) (Editorial)

Credentials

Education

University of Oxford (Oxford) 2020 — MPhil | Public International Law
Graduate Institute (Geneva) 2015 — LL.M. | Masters in International Dispute Settlement (Hans Wilsdorf Scholar)
National Law University (Jodhpur) 2011 — B.Sc./LL.B. | International Trade and Investment (Honours)

Admissions

India (Advocate)
England and Wales (Solicitor)