[Anushri Uttarwar is a 4th year law student at O.P. Jindal Global University] On March 11, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) formed a group of experts to study the viability of introducing structures like special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) in India. Contrary to SEBI’s guarded position, the International Financial Services Centre Authority (“IFSCA”) has already...
Court’s Refusal to Appoint Arbitrators: An ‘Appeal’ to Create Appeal Mechanisms
[Abhijeet Shrivastava is a third-year law student and Anujay Shrivastava is a law graduate (class of 2020), both from Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat.] Recently, a three-judge bench of the Indian Supreme Court speaking through Nariman, J. in Pravin Electricals v. Galaxy Infra highlighted a crucial discrepancy of law in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”). Specifically, the...
A Post-Pandemic Analysis of CSR in India
India’s provision relating to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Companies Act, 2013 has attempted to define and measure the concept, and is in this respect something of a milestone. However, by thus providing a definition and measurability to CSR, the concept has lost some of its innate flexibility. In my article forthcoming in the Journal of Comparative Law, I examine how effective...
Supreme Court Widens Scope of Moratorium on Criminal Proceedings
[Prachi Gupta is a fourth-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at the Institute of Law, Nirma University] On 1 March 2021, the Supreme Court in the case of P. Mohanraj v. Shah Brothers Ispat Pvt. Ltd. has put an end to a much-debated topic of applicability of moratorium under section 14 of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”) to proceedings of dishonour of cheque under section 138 of...
Climate Change – A Ticking Clock for Investors?
[Insaf Ahmad TK and Mathangi K are third-year undergraduate law students at Gujarat National Law University, India] The year 2019 witnessed the bankruptcy of Pacific Gas and Electric Corporation which the Wall Street Journal described as a “climate change bankruptcy”. The investors in Pacific Gas and Electric Corporation incurred losses worth millions of dollars due to a series of wildfires in...
CCI on WhatsApp Privacy Policy: Some Inspirations, Some Questions
[Raghav Harini N is a final year B.A.LL.B. (Hons) student at ILS Law College, Pune] The Competition Commission of India (CCI), in a recent order, has caused the Director General (DG) to investigate the controversial privacy policy and terms of service of WhatsApp (the policy). It has concluded that the policy prima facie violates section 4 of the Competition Act 2002 (the Act). This decision...
Indus Biotech v Kotak: A Step in the Right Direction?
[Ankur Singhal and Vasavi Khatri are 5th year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) students at National Law School of India University, Bangalore] On 26 March 2021, the Supreme Court, in Indus Biotech Private Limited v. Kotak India Venture Fund ruled that an arbitration petition would not be maintainable after the insolvency resolution petition under section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is admitted...
Limitation Period for Section 37 Appeals: An Uncertain Affair
[Nitesh Mishra is a 4th year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at National Law University Delhi] The Supreme Court in its recent judgment in Government of Maharashtra v. Borse Brothers Engineers & Contractors Pvt. Ltd. (19 March 2021) has attempted to clarify the law on the applicability and scope of condonation of delays in filing of appeals under section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation...
Standards for Application of the Limitation Act to the IBC
[Karan Kamath is an Advocate practicing at Mumbai] In the short span of existence of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (“Code”), the Supreme Court has been called upon on a considerable number of occasions to decide whether the Limitation Act, 1963 (“Act”) is applicable to proceedings under the Code. On March 22, 2021, in another of such decisions, the Supreme Court inched towards settling the...
Section 36 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, as Recently Amended
[Raghav Kacker is an Advocate practicing before the High Court of Delhi and various Tribunals and Ruchi Chaudhury is a postgraduate in anthropology, and currently a 2nd year LLB candidate at Jindal Global Law School] The Central Government has notified the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2021 (the ‘Amendment’), which was already in force as law by way of an Ordinance issued by...
CCI on Interim Measures in Digital Markets
[Mohini Parghi is a IV Year B.A. LLB (Hons.) student at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad] The Competition Commission of India passed an interim order on 9 March 2021 in the ongoing case involving a complaint against MakeMyTrip, Go-Ibibo and Oyo alleging anticompetitive practices under sections 3 and 4 of the Competition Act, 2002. The case is expected to be instrumental in shaping the...
Supreme Court on Directors’ Duties in the Tata/Mistry Case: A Critique
On 26 March 2021, the Supreme Court of India pronounced its much-awaited ruling in Tata Consultancy Services Limited v. Cyrus Investments Pvt. Ltd. The Court found that the allegations of oppression and prejudice raised by the Mistry group could not be sustained, and hence declined to grant any relief. It answered all the legal questions raised in favour of the Tata group. In a sense, this forces...
Taxing Data under the Equalisation Levy: Taxpayers’ Challenges
[Akshara Rao is a final year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat] With the increasing dominance of the digital economy, countries and international organisations have highlighted the inefficiency of the current tax system in covering digital businesses, which are generating enormous profits from a jurisdiction without having any physical presence. Several countries...
Disputes amongst the Same Class of Creditors and Judicial Intervention
[Rohit Sharma is a partner at Mamta Binani & Associates, Mumbai] Since the inception of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (‘Code’), numerous amendments have been carried out to plug the loopholes or uncertainties in the Code. In such a vein, section 30(4) of the Code was amended on 6 August, 2019, which states as follows: (4) The committee of creditors may approve a resolution plan by...
Dealing with Competition Issues in the Indian Informal Sector
[Manohar Samal is a Master of Laws student at the National Institute of Securities Markets, Mumbai] Competition law has played a vital role in enhancing healthy competition in Indian markets and has also boosted innovation and economic development. The Competition Act, 2002 is the principal legislation which prevents activities that have adverse effects on competition in the Indian market. Even...
Caught between PMLA and IBC: The Bhushan Power-JSW Saga
[Aniket Aggarwal is a commercial litigator and technology lawyer practicing in New Delhi] A prima facie look at the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 [“PMLA” or “the Act”] and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 [“IBC” or “the Code”] belies exclusivity and distinctness between the legislations. Indeed, the Delhi High Court observed these laws to be consistent with each other in light...
SPAC Listings in India: Regulatory Hurdles and the Way Forward
[Devarsh Shah is a third-year law student at Gujarat National Law University] One of the most significant developments in the international capital markets in the past couple of years has been the revival of ‘Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicles (SPACs)’. In 2020, around $80 billion was raised in the US by 247 SPACs representing almost 50% of the raised capital of about $174 billion. While SPAC...
India’s Struggle with Public Procurement Regulations
[Jishnu M Nair is a Senior Attorney at IBM India/South Asia. The opinions are personal views of the author and do not necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions] Public sector procurement forms around 22 percent of India’s total GDP, with the Government’s total procurement, spend running at around $417 billion. On an earlier estimate, the Government’s IT spend...
A Case for Exclusion of Schemes of Arrangement from Liquidation
[Sikha Bansal is a Partner at Vinod Kothari & Company] The concerns around schemes of arrangement under section 230 of the Companies Act, 2013 in the background of insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) have been partly addressed with the ruling of Supreme Court (SC) in Arun Kumar Jagatramka v. Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. The SC has held that the...
Supreme Court on the Validity of Ipso Facto Clauses during Insolvency
[Ridhi Arora is a III Year B.A., LL.B (Hons.) student at Gujarat National Law University and Varun Singh a III Year B.A., LL.B (Hons.) student at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law] On March 8, 2021, the Supreme Court of India in Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited v. Amit Gupta ruled that the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (‘IBC’) prevail over power purchase agreements...
Arbitration of Consumer Disputes in India: A Need for Reform
[Pavitra Naidu & Shreya Jain are 4th year B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) students from Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat] The case of Emaar MGF v Aftab Singh was a landmark in the issue of arbitrability of consumer disputes. However, with India striving towards a pro-arbitration regime, delving into the possibility of arbitration of consumer disputes in India becomes imperative. This post will...
The SPAC-tacular rise of Blank Check Companies in India?
[Poojita Saxena is a 4th year law student at the National Law Institute University, Bhopal] One of India’s leading renewable energy companies, ReNew Power, recently announced the execution of a definitive business combination agreement with RMG Acquisition Corporation II. The USD 8-billion transaction enables the combined power generation company to get listed on NASDAQ by the second quarter of...
Fragmented Framework for Perfection of Security Interest: A Secured Creditor’s Nightmare?
[Sikha Bansal is a Partner and Siddharth Goel a Legal Advisor at Vinod Kothari & Company] An interesting question of law came up for consideration by way of appeal before National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in Volkswagen Finance Private Limited v. Shree Balaji Printopack Pvt. Ltd . The brief facts of the case involved a car financing company, which extended a car loan to the...
Classification of Advance Payment Claims as Operational Debt: Intention Test
[Kartik Adlakha is a final year B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at Jindal Global Law School] Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (‘the Code’) defines ‘operational debt’ as claims arising in respect of provision of goods or services. The term ‘claim’ under the Code refers to right to payment or right to remedy for breach of contract if such breach gives rise to a right to payment. Due to the scheme of...
The Continued Influence of Foss v. Harbottle in India
[On 6 March 2021, the Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) organised a JGLS Virtual Discourse titled “Action by Minority Shareholders and the Rules in Foss v. Harbottle (1843) 2 Hare 461”. It was structured as a comparative discussion, with James d’Apice discussing the Australian position and me the Indian position. In this post, I summarise the key points I made during the session. My thanks go to...
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