Tag: Contract Law

  • More Controversy over Forex Derivatives

    Over the past two years, forex derivatives have generated substantial legal controversy in India, perhaps because of the relatively recent rise in the use of these instruments in India. We have discussed the challenge to the legality of derivatives as wagering agreements, their regulation, taxability and other related issues. The latest addition to this chapter

    Read more…

  • Incorporation of an Arbitration Clause by Reference

    One of the most controversial and interesting questions in contemporary arbitration law is incorporation by reference. It is a common practice in some industries, particularly shipping and construction, for the contractual relationship between the parties to be composed of several documents. It sometimes happens that a dispute arises with reference to one of these documents,

    Read more…

  • Derivatives and Underlying Assets

    In a very interesting article published in the Journal of Business Law in 2007, Professors Green and Saidov had this to say of software: “…its unique characteristics mean that it is not truly analogous to any conventional chattel with which the law is familiar… despite the fact that it is one of the most ubiquitous

    Read more…

  • Fraud and Bank Guarantees

    Often, it so happens in the commercial world that a contract between two parties requires one to provide a performance guarantee to the other. Accordingly, the party provides a bank guarantee; but the guarantee itself is expressed to be “unconditional” and “irrevocable”. The understanding of the parties is that the guarantee will be utilized and

    Read more…

  • Contracts of Sale, Works Contracts, and TDS

    Tax deducted at source (TDS) has proved to be a controversial area of law for quite some time now. One issue that has most recently come to light is likely to have enormous commercial significance – under what circumstances is a company obliged to treat an ordinary transaction as a “works contract” and not a

    Read more…

  • Demystifying concepts and terms used in agreements

    My colleague, Daksh Trivedi has recently written an interesting article in The Mint, where he has discussed the various legal concepts/ terms used in shareholders and share purchase agreements. He begins with: Typical documents used for capturing terms of equity investments, that is, share-purchase agreements or shareholders’ agreements, are now complex and ridden with industry

    Read more…

  • The AIG Bonus Payments Controversy: Issues of Contract Law

    There has been a significant outrage since the controversy over bonus payments to some AIG employees began about a week ago. One of the justifications of the AIG management for pressing on with the payments is that the company is legally obligated to pay their employees failing which it could be liable to suits for

    Read more…

  • Non-Compete and Non-Disclosure Agreements: Are They in Restraint of Trade?

    (In the following post, Venugopal Mahapatra and Gautam Bhatia discuss the Indian legal position regarding non-compete and non-disclosure clauses in employment and similar contracts in the context of a Bombay High Court decision. They also compare and contrast the Indian law on this topic with the position that prevails in the U.K.) V.F.S. Global Services

    Read more…

  • Speedier Enforcement of Large Contracts on the Anvil

    Business Standard reports that the Government is considering a new law for the faster enforcement of high-value business contracts. This is to enhance the environment in India for business transactions. The principal driver behind this move is stated to be the low scores India has received on this count in the Doing Business Report published

    Read more…