[Kavya Mathur and Pragya Chandak are law graduates from National Law University, Jodhpur] The unprecedented Covid-19 health crisis has had a grim impact on all facets of life, including the disruption of business, people’s livelihoods and even the loss of life. While employers are persevering to stay afloat themselves, there is undoubtedly also an element of altruism and sincere concern for the...
The TRIPS Waiver and BITs: Scope for Concern?
[Aarohi Chaudhuri is a 3rd year BA LLB (Hons.) student at the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru] In April 2021, a group of WTO members led by India and South Africa proposed the temporary lifting of patents over Covid-19 vaccines. The suggested mechanism to achieve this end was to waive the relevant provisions of the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property...
GST Compensation Regime: The Covid Reality
[R. Kavipriyan and Pranshu Gupta are 4th year B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) students at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad] The Compensation Cess Controversy In the immediate aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Union Finance Minister announced that the revenue shortfall experienced by the States would not be entirely compensated by the Centre, claiming that the said shortfall is on account of an...
E-contracts and E-signatures in a Post-Covid Era – Deficiencies in the Current Framework?
[Ayesha Bhattacharya is a graduate of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata (Batch of 2019)] As the covid-19 pandemic continues to rage across the world, the corporate and the commercial factions of business have witnessed major disruptions. Most commercial negotiations rely on execution of documents in physical format and while start-ups and tech enabled businesses...
Force Majeure, Frustration and Impossibility: A Qualitative Empirical Analysis
[Smaran Shetty is a Senior Associate with Keystone Partners and Pranav Budihal is an LLM Candidate at the National University of Singapore] Force majeure has become a fairly common ground to avoid the performance of contractual obligations in a post Covid-19 world. In a time when lawyers and parties seek to examine their force majeure clause and reassess their contractual arrangements, we have...
Stamp Duty Amendments on Securities Transactions: The Impact of Covid-19
[Bhavna Hemrajani is a 4th year student at Amity Law School Delhi (affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Delhi)] The Finance Act, 2019 amended the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 to insert section 9A, which deals with ‘Instruments chargeable with duty for transactions in stock exchange and depositaries’, and section 9B, which relates to instruments ‘chargeable with duty for transactions...
Promoter-Friendly Amendments to the SEBI Takeover Regulations
Cash-starved companies are presently considering raising funds through various means during the economic downturn. When it comes to equity funding, the natural option would be to rely on their promoters to infuse more capital. Towards this end, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 16 June 2020 issued amendments to the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers)...
Modifying an Approved Resolution Plan Due To Covid-19
[Shebani Bhargava is a 4th year student at the Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai (MNLU Mumbai)] The novel coronavirus and the unprecedented nationwide lockdown have disrupted the country’s economy. As a consequence, multiple businesses may face the threat of insolvency. In order to soften the setback and ease the financial stress, the Government, along with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy...
The IBC (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020: Need to Iron Out the Creases
[Rongeet Poddar is a graduate of West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences and Sayak Banerjee a 3rd year student at National Law University, Jodhpur] The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 was promulgated on June 5, 2020 and came into force immediately. The amendment acknowledges that the Covid-19 pandemic has harmed businesses around the world following a...
Tax Implications of the COVID-19 Response: Corporate Residency and POEM
[Manjri Singh and Vijayaditya Reddy are IV year students at NALSAR University of Law] The public health emergency caused by the corona virus pandemic has plunged the world into uncertain times. In order to ensure continuation of business in such an environment, video conferencing and other remote options are the only possibilities for conducting corporate meetings. For example, the Ministry of...
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