Dubai-based Indian lawyer Ashish Mehta, who has been representing Sunanda Pushkar in the IPL Kochi imbroglio, has had an enviable list of clients, including Indian celebrities, members of the Dubai ruling family and Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan who was assassinated in 2007.

The 44-year-old Mehta was also a close friend of Bhutto. He told TOI, "She was a close friend of mine and her family is still known to me." After Bhutto's death, Mehta continues to be in touch with Pakisani President Asif Zardari and his son Bilawal. He had stopped an Indian producer from making a documentary on Bhutto.

The Delhi-born Mehta has known Pushkar socially for almost a decade. "I lost touch with her for some time, but reconnected with her last year when she was working for Tecom, an investment firm, as a sales manager. Recently, on April 15, after she returned from India to Dubai, she began consulting me on the Kochi case," said Mehta.