[Tushar Kumar is a 4th Year BA LLB (Hons.) student at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow] The Ministry of Finance, in July 2018, accepted the recommendations of a committee constituted for review on Non-Performing Assets of Public Sector Banks, headed by Sunil Mehta (Non-Executive Chairman of Punjab National Bank) proposing “Project Sashakt”, calling for a five-tier approach...
The Vodafone Anti-Suit Injunction – A Cautionary Note
[Siddharth S. Aatreya is a V Year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) Candidate, National Law School of India University, Bangalore] In May 2018, the Delhi High Court issued its judgment in Union of India v Vodafone Group plc. The judgment vacated an interim order that had been passed in August 2017, by which the Court had temporarily restrained Vodafone from commencing arbitration proceedings under the India-UK...
Impact Analysis of Committee Recommendations on Offences under the Companies Act
[Gaurav Pingle is a practising Company Secretary in Pune and can be reached at [email protected]] The Government of India had constituted a Committee to review the existing framework dealing with offences under the Companies Act, 2013 (‘Act’) and related matters. The Committee was also required to make recommendations to promote better corporate compliance. The Committee submitted its final...
The Rise and Fall of the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill
[Apoorv Madan and Rushil Anand are fourth year B.B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) students at Jindal Global Law School in Sonipat] Background It may be considered common knowledge, at this time, that failure of some financial institutions can have far-reaching implications on economies, sometimes resulting in full-blown financial crises. Further, because of the increasingly interconnected and globalised world...
Juristic Persons and the Embargo under Section 29A(d) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016
[Rishabh Sinha is a 4th year B.A. LL.B. (Business Law Hons.) student at National Law University, Jodhpur] Introduction The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) recently interpreted section 29A(d) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the Code) in Renaissance Steel India Pvt. Ltd. v. Electrosteels Steel India Ltd(10 August 2018). In this case the appellant had challenged the...
Resolution of Disputes in the Insolvency Code: Need for Appellate Review
[Shubham Jain and Vishvesh Vikram are BA.LLB (Hons.) students at National Law University Delhi] The limits of the discretion which can be exercised by a resolution professional with regard to adjudication of claims of creditors under the Insolvency Code remain to be tested. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (‘NCLAT’) in Saraogi Udyog v Vedanta Ltd (20 August 2018) refused to interfere...
SEBI’s new requirement for separation of post of Chairman/CEO – cosmetic and harmful
SEBI had recently amended Regulation 17 of the SEBI LODR Regulations 2015 by inserting a new clause (1B). The clause requires that top 500 listed companies in terms of market capitalisation should have a Chairperson who (i) is a non-executive director; and (ii) is not related to the Managing Director or CEO. This was SEBI’s version of the popular western corporate governance good practice of...
Venture Global v. Tech Mahindra – Complicating the Public Policy Debate under Indian Arbitration Law
[Siddharth S. Aatreya is a V Year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) Candidate at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore] Introduction The public policy ground for challenging an arbitral award has been the subject of much controversy in India. In the Supreme Court’s decision in Venture Global v. Tech Mahindra (2017) two issues within this broad area entered the spotlight – the applicability of...
Implications of India Adopting the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency
[Aastha Kaushal (B.A.,LLB (Hons.)) and Saurav Gurjer (BB.A.,LLB (Hons.)) are 4thyear students from School of Law, Christ(Deemed to be University), Bengaluru] The management of international insolvencies are aimed to be resolved through a formal cross- border approach through the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (Model Law) which was approved by the United Nations General Assembly...
Ultratech Cements: Understanding Trends in the Economics of Market Power
[Lianne Lucia D’Souza is a 4thyear B.A. LL.B. student at School of Law, Christ (Deemed to be University, Bengaluru] Introduction Since the enforcement of merger control provisions in the Competition Act, 2002, the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) has played an active role by assessing over 500 combinations in a short span of seven years. All transactions meeting the jurisdictional...
Supreme Court on the Scope of “Dispute” under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
[Shourya Bari is an associate at a law firm in Mumbai having graduated from Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat (JGLS) in 2018 and Aditi Singh Kashyap is a 4th year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at JGLS] The Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (“IBC”) stipulates that the adjudicating authority (i.e. the National Company Law Tribunal or NCLT) would not admit an application by an operational creditor to...
Taxation of Bonus Shares: Deciphering the Law
[Unnati Ghia is a 4th year BA LLB (Hons.) student at National Law School of India University, Bangalore] There is no steadfast rule or statutory provision governing the taxation of bonus shares, save for its statutory exclusion from the category of ‘dividends’. This category of shares has presented a dilemma to both the Revenue and the judiciary in multiple instances, given that determining...
The Curious Case of Cryptocurrencies: Part II
[Pranav Tolani is associated with a corporate law firm in Mumbai and can be reached at [email protected]] The first post in this series is available here] The Indian Position While India has active cryptocurrency traders as well as cryptocurrency exchanges, there has been no serious development on the regulatory front, except, of course, the repeated warnings by Reserve Bank of India and the...
The Curious Case of Cryptocurrencies: Part I
[Pranav Tolani is associated with a corporate law firm in Mumbai and can be reached [email protected]] Cryptocurrencies have made waves in financial markets around the globe. According to leading cryptocurrency exchanges, the August 2018 global cryptocurrency market capitalisation is somewhere short of USD 400 billion – less than half of what it was in December 2017 (on the back of...
The Continuing Saga of Homebuyers under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
[Karan Sahi is a lawyer and company secretary. He can be contacted at [email protected]] Introduction The recent slump in the real estate industry culminated in a grim situation where several major builders have been unable to complete their housing projects and hand over possession to their customers, leaving them in the lurch. As is the usual practice, many of these customers have taken...
Charter Hire Agreements: Abuse of Dominance in a Monopsonist Procurer Market
[B.V.S. Aditya Santosh is a 4thYear BBA.L.L.B. (Hons.) Student at ICFAI Law School, Dehradun] In Indian National Shipowners’ Association Vs. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (order dated 12 June 2018), the Competition Commission of India (CCI) dealt with abuse of dominant position of an enterprise in a monopsonist procurer market (buyer’s monopoly) by virtue of unfair charter...
NCLT Approves Amalgamation of LLP with Company: Did the Legislature Intend This?
[Ritika Bharti and Siddharth Subramanya Raj Urs are 4th year B.B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) students at School of Law, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru] Giving a new dimension to corporate restructuring, the Chennai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (“Tribunal”), in its first of a kind order dated 11 June 2018, laid down a fresh interpretation to the provisions pertaining to the...
Corporate Insolvency Proceedings: Can Interest be Claimed as a Part of Debt?
[Lyssa Maria Brito is a 4thyear B.B.A.L.L.B. (Hons.) student at School of Law Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru] Introduction Earlier, in section 433(e) of the Companies Act, 1956, there was no distinction provided between a financial and an operational debt. Section 433(e) only provided that a company may be wound up by the court if it is unable to pay its debts. Therefore, the issue...
Amending the Commercial Courts Act: Quantity over Quality?
[Anhad S. Miglani is a Chandigarh based advocate and Sagun Poudyal a Mumbai based commercial lawyer. Both are graduates of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore] In May 2018, an Ordinance was promulgated to amend the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, 2015 (the “Act”). The Parliament, in its monsoon session, has passed a...
Call for Papers: Indian Arbitration Law Review
[Announcement from the Indian Arbitration Law Review] The National Law Institute University, Bhopal (NLIU) is pleased to announce the launch of the Indian Arbitration Law Review (“Journal”), an annual peer-reviewed journal devoted to arbitration. The Journal, supported by L&L Partners Law Offices, is set to be released in February 2019 during the 4th NLIU—Justice R.K. Tankha Memorial...
NLS Business Law Review: Call for Submissions – Volume 5
[Announcement from the NLS Business Law Review] The Board of Editors of the National Law School Business Law Review is pleased to invite original and unpublished manuscripts for publication in Volume 5 of the Review. About the Journal The NLS Business Law Review is an initiative by the National Law School of India University to recognise and foster academic research and scholarship in corporate...
Interests of Homebuyers in Insolvency: Pre- and post-Ordinance
[Pulkit Khare is a 4th year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at The National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi] Homebuyers knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution on grounds that the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) ignored the interests of vital stakeholders in building projects floated by Jaypee Infratech Limited (JIL) under the...
Limiting the Application of Moratorium to Personal Guarantors
[Karan Sangani is a 4th year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad] One of the contentious issues under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (“the Code”)relates to the applicability of the moratorium to the personal guarantors of the corporate debtors under section 14 of the Code. This was resolved by the Supreme Court recently in State Bank of India v. V...
Supreme Court Reiterates Position: I&B Code, 2016 Prevails Over the Income Tax Act, 1961
[Siddharth Kumar is a 3rdyear B.B.A. LL.B.(Hons.) student at Vivekananda Law School, Delhi] The Supreme Court of India, by its order dated 10 August 2018 in Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax v. Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd. has held that the provisions of the moratorium stipulated under section 14 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“ Code”) would override anything inconsistent contained in...
The Walmart-Flipkart Deal: A New Era For The Indian E-Commerce Industry
[Hitakshi Mahendru is a 5th Year Law Student at Symbiosis Law School, Pune] Introduction In its order dated 8 August 2018, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the 77% acquisition of outstanding shares of Flipkart Private Limited (Flipkart) by Walmart International Holdings Inc (Walmart) and stated that it is not likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India...
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