ArchiveJanuary 2012

Constitution Bench on Bhatia International: First Week of Arguments

A Constitution Bench comprising the Chief Justice and Justices Jain, Nijjar, Khehar and Desai heard arguments this week in Bharat Aluminium v Kaiser Aluminium Technical Services, in which the principal issue is whether Part I of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 applies to arbitrations where the seat of arbitration is outside India. As is well known, and as we have discussed on several...

Liberalisation of Foreign Investment in Single-Brand Retail

Although the proposed policy changes on foreign investment in multi-brand retail had to be put on hold due to stiff resistance, the Government has issued Press Note No. 1 (2012 Series) to increase the limit of foreign investment in single-brand retail from 51% to 100%. Such foreign investment would continue to require the approval of the Government of India (acting through the Foreign Investment...

The Options Saga Continues

A few months ago, we had discussed a change of policy stance by the Government of India in allowing options (such as puts and calls) on shares of Indian companies to foreign investors. While the Government initially specified that the existence of such options would turn the foreign investment into an external commercial borrowing, it was quick to withdraw this stipulation due to the immediate...

SEBI Prescribes Additional Methods to Meet Free Float Requirement

In addition to the existing methods available for listed companies to meet the public shareholding (free float) requirements of 10% for public sector undertakings (PSUs) and 25% for other companies, SEBI has recently prescribed two other methods. These are (i) the institutional placement programme (IPP) under which a company can increase its public shareholding up to 10% through an offer to...

QFI Investments in Indian Stock Markets

With a view to creating further depth in the Indian capital markets and attracting greater foreign investment, the Government has provided another avenue for foreign investors to participate in the stock markets. Until now, the portfolio investment route (i.e. buying and selling on the stock exchange) was available only to two types of foreign investors, i.e. foreign institutional investors...

Guest Post: Avoiding litigation under Section 11 of the Arbitration Act

(In the following post, Ms. Renu Gupta, Advocate, discusses ways to avoid protracted section 11 litigation) There is much litigation in courts under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter, “A&C Act”), on appointment of arbitrators. Often, the party resisting the arbitration exploits all its might to stall the appointment of arbitrator, which can easily last a...

2011: Year in Review (Income Tax)

The year 2011 was in the news (insofar has tax issues are consult) mainly due to a few high-profile matters in the Supreme Court. The public interest litigation relating to black money (Ram Jethmalani v. Union of India) and the hearing in the Vodafone case are few examples of this. In terms of legal issues however, 2011 saw a number of far-reaching decisions of the courts which may not have been...

An Unfortunate Judgment: India and the Law of Restitution for Unjust Enrichment

The law of restitution for unjust enrichment* is so well developed in the common law world today that it is impossible to conceive of a coherent system of private law without it. In India, a part of this area is codified in sections 68-72 of the Contract Act, 1872, and  some outstanding judgments of the High Courts, particularly before and around the 1950s (see for example Damodara Mudaliar...

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