Introduction of Section 29A to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the “Act”), by way of an amendment in 2015, marked a significant event in the arbitration regime in India. It recognised the sluggishness that had crept into arbitration proceedings and provided for strict timelines for making of an award. The section was further amended in 2019, pursuant to recommendations of Justice B N Srikrishna committee.
Continue Reading Can an Arbitral Tribunal’s Mandate be Extended Post Award?
Offences such as cheating and criminal breach of trust are often invoked in Indian criminal law system. It is common practice that when a First Information Report (“FIR”) is registered under Section 406 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (“IPC”) (Section 316 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (“BNS”)) for criminal breach of trust, the same is also registered under Section 420 of IPC (Section 318 of BNS) for cheating. This practice is on account of a long-drawn confusion between the two offences, wherein the two are often equated and thus understood as offences with similar ingredients.
Continue Reading Criminal Breach of Trust vs. Cheating: Decoding the Confusion
The Companies Act, 2013 (“Act”) stands as a cornerstone of corporate regulation in India. It lays down a comprehensive compliance framework for body corporates as well as their officers to protect the rights and interests of shareholders and investors. In the first part of this two-part blog series, we seek to address the ambiguities pertaining to proactive rectifications of the non-compliances and contraventions under the Act. In the second blog, we will discuss the threshold for liability of “officers in default” under the Act.
Continue Reading Ambiguities in Regulatory Thresholds for Rectifying Breaches under the Companies Act, 2013
The process and outcome of arbitration is largely governed by the following laws: (a) law governing the contract referring to the substantive law that parties choose to govern the main contract and any disputes arising thereunder; (b) law governing the arbitration agreement referring to the law that parties choose to govern arbitration agreement (it governs issues like validity, arbitrability, etc.); (c) law governing conduct of arbitral proceedings and forum for related court proceedings (i.e. law of the seat) and (d) Institutional rules (if chosen), governing the form and procedure of arbitration.
Continue Reading Law Governing Arbitration Agreement: Which Way are Indian Courts Headed?
The Supreme Court on August 7, 2024, in The Blue Dreamz Advertising Pvt. Ltd. & Anr. v. Kolkata Municipal Corporation & Ors.[1] rendered a significant judgment in assessing the validity of a debarment or a blacklisting order. The court reiterated its position that invoking debarment in ordinary cases of breach of contract where there is a bona fide dispute, is not permissible.
Continue Reading Blacklisting – A Proportionate Sanction or a Corporate Exile?
A division bench of the Delhi High Court in Cobra Instalaciones Y Servicios, S.A. & Shyam Indus Power Solution Pvt Ltd. v. Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Ltd. (“HVPNL”)[1] (“Cobra Case”)upheld the quantification of damages by an arbitrator through “honest guesswork” or a “rough and ready method” since it was difficult to quantify the precise amount of loss suffered by the party.
In this blog, we examine the rough and ready approach under Indian law for quantifying damages.
Continue Reading Can damages be awarded based on a guess?
A commercial arrangement entered into between two or more parties, who agree to pool their resources, to accomplish an intended project (or other business activity) is referred to as a Joint Venture (“JV”). Effectively, it is a collaboration between two companies. Such collaboration can be either purely financial or technical-cum-financial. In the Indian context, most of the JVs are between a foreign company and an Indian company and are primarily to bring in newer technologies to India.
Continue Reading Joint Ventures: Why do they break-up?
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) has held that preventing and detecting fraud or market abuse is a key pillar of investor protection. Consequently, SEBI has been relentless in introducing and amending rules, regulations, and circulars to regulate practices tantamount to fraud or market abuse.
Continue Reading Obligations placed on stockbrokers to curb fraud and money laundering
To address the issue of land grabbing in Gujarat, the government introduced the Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Bill, 2020, in the State Legislative Assembly. Upon approval, the Bill became the Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2020, (“the Act”), effective August 29, 2020. However, the implementation of the Act was questioned on the grounds of it being overly harsh and its enactment being contrary to law.
Continue Reading Gujarat High Court: Upholding the validity of The Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2020 – Part II
A live location on your mobile phone, gets you a cab and instant food/grocery delivery, among myriad other things. On occasion, a live location could also get you bail!This is seen from several recent judicial orders including some passed by the Hon’ble Delhi High Court and the Hon’ble Supreme Court as well.
Continue Reading Out on bail: Do not disturb?