ArchiveSeptember 2010

Bombay High Court on the Appointment of Arbitrators

Section 11 of the Indian Arbitration Act, 1996, has been subject of much controversy; primarily on the issue of whether the power of Chief Justice to appoint arbitrators provided therein, is judicial or administrative in nature. While that question gave rise to many issues of policy and the scheme of the Act as a whole, a narrower but equally interesting aspect of the provision seems to have gone...

A New Edition of the Consolidated FDI Policy

On April 1 this year, the Government gave effect to a consolidation exercise by locating all policies relating to FDI in a single document known as the Consolidated FDI Policy (as discussed here). That was not meant to be a static policy, but something that was to be reviewed every six months. Lo and behold, promptly at the end of the first six-month period, the Government today issued a revised...

FDI: Shares for Consideration Other than Cash

In another of a series of discussion papers, the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has issued one on issue of shares for consideration other than cash. In the past, foreign investment policy has mandated that shares be issued by Indian companies to foreign investors under the automatic route only against remittances received through normal banking channels. The only...

Proposal for FDI in Limited Liability Partnerships

Limited liability partnerships (LLPs), which are a relatively novel concept to India, have been recognised since April 1, 2009. LLPs are different from general partnerships in several ways, but there are two prominent differences. First, partners in LLPs carry limited liability for acts of the firm. Second, the partnership firm possesses separate legal personality and to that extent it has...

SEBI Order on MCX Stock Exchange

SEBI yesterday issued a detailed order rejecting the application of MCX-SX to commence trading in several exchange segments. The background of the case and the gist of SEBI’s order are available at Business Standard and Livemint. SEBI’s conclusion is based on a legal analysis (a fairly intensive one for a regulator) of various issues as well its assessment of whether the applicant is a ‘fit and...

The Taxation of Sales Preceding Export Transactions – Part II

In the first part, I outlined the conflict between the ‘same goods’ and ‘inextricable connection’ test, witness in applying section 5(3) of the Central Sales Tax Act. The resolution of this conflict, mandated a reference to a Constitution Bench in Azad Coach Builders. On facts, the seller (Azad Coach Builders) has sold bus bodies to the exporter (TELCO), which were mounted on chassis made by the...

The Taxation of Sales Preceding Export Transactions – Part I

Last week, the Supreme Court decided an interesting issue relating to statutory interpretation, very similar to the issue which had arisen in Daga Capital, discussed earlier. The question which the Court in State of Karnataka v. Azad Coach Builders was the extent to which States may tax sales transactions which immediately precede an export/import transaction. The controversy arises because the...

Outbound Acquisitions by Indian Companies

Professor Afra Afsharipour at the University of California, Davis, School of Law has posted an interesting paper “Rising Multinationals: Law and the Evolution of Outbound Acquisitions by Indian Companies”. Although several leading Indian companies have embarked on large overseas acquisitions, the law in this area has not been the subject-matter of serious academic study. To that extent, this...

ECJ on In-house Lawyers and Legal Privilege

On September 14, 2010, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued its judgment in the case of Akzo Nobel and Akcros Chemicals on the question whether communication with in-house lawyers is protected by legal professional privilege. The case involved an investigation by European Commission authorities of possible anti-competitive practices wherein officials took copies of a number of documents...

More on Independent Directors

Can Independent Directors Appoint Alternates? Despite closely following developments in the law relating to independent directors (IDs) in the recent past, this question took me by surprise. Considering the special position of an ID, it seemed to me that an individual occupying that position is incapable of being substituted, even if that were temporary in nature. However, a debate generated...

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