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Steady as she goes
With general elections looming, India’s finance minister has chosen a largely safe approach with regards to unveiling taxation policies in the country’s 2024 interim budget, write Preeti Goyal, Bharathi Krishnaprasad and B Venkat Ramanan...
Mediation Bill to reduce backlog
India’s Mediation Bill (2021) has been passed by both houses of parliament to alleviate the staggering backlog of court cases.
The bill, which was given the green light by the Rajya Sabha (upper house) and...
Lower house approves forest bill
The Lok Sabha has given its nod to the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill to alter the Forest Conservation Act of 1980. This has sparked discussions due to the implications for forest protection.
Despite initial objections...
Vidarbha: The ratio that wasn’t
In M Suresh Kumar Reddy v Canara Bank and Ors, the Supreme Court clarified that its observations in Vidarbha Industries Power Limited v Axis Bank Limited were restricted to the particular facts of that case. Therefore, except...
Personal Data Protection Bill enables data flows from India to Singapore
India has waited many years for its general data protection legislation. This key legislation will regulate the data of over 1.4 billion people, impact businesses ranging from corner stores to conglomerates, and create what...
Jury out on fate of cryptos, NFTs
India stands on the cusp of a cryptocurrency boom even as a 2021 bill may scupper opportunities while also affecting prospects for non-fungible tokens, which are traded in cryptos. Raghavan Ramabadran and Sai Prashanth define the instruments and...
Mapping global expertise
Top India-focused Law Firms 2007
Top India-focused Law Firms 2008
Top India-focused Law Firms 2009
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Top India-focused Law Firms 2011
Top India-focused Law Firms 2012
Top India-focused Law Firms 2013
Top India-focused Law Firms 2014
Top India-focused...
Cryptocurrencies unchained?
Since the Supreme Court overturned India's ban on cryptocurrencies, trading volumes have increased exponentially and home-grown crypto startups have blossomed. But the government has yet to establish a regulatory regime, and reports of another...
Crypto crossroads
Much like its value, the regulatory journey of bitcoin has had its ups and downs in India. With the recent jump in value, how will regulators react? Sourish Mohan Mitra reports
Trading in bitcoins has...
Deals of the Year
Deals of the year 2022
Deals of the year 2021
Deals of the year 2019
Deals of the year 2018
Deals of the year 2017
Deals of the year 2016
Deals of the year 2015
Deals of...
Carlyle continues India investment with Nxtra stake
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and L&L Partners advised entities within the Carlyle Group when it agreed to acquire a 25% stake in Bharti Airtel's data centre arm, Nxtra Data.
Bharti Airtel, which will retain the remaining...
Juggling act
The evolution of the personal data protection bill is influenced by the need to protect the interests of businesses, the government and the individual, writes Yukti Sharma
India’s journey to a personal data protection law...
PDP bill reaches parliament
The much-awaited Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 (PDP bill) was introduced in the Lok Sabha (lower house) of the parliament on 11 December 2019. The PDP bill has been substantially revised from the draft PDP Bill, 2018, which was...
Unintended consequences
Fighting online counterfeiting may come at the cost of business
Taking action against counterfeiters is a worthy endeavour. Yet the chances of total victory may be slim, not least because the enemy in question has...
Parliament in numbers
Continuing our regular coverage of India’s parliamentary sessions, Mandira Kala assesses the performance of the Lok Sabha in the past five years compared with the two previous terms
The 2019 budget session of India's parliament...
Online aggregators need legal, regulatory clarity
Regulation of e-commerce in India, specifically the permissibility of foreign investment in the sector has been dominated by, and has evolved into, a discussion on what constitutes a marketplace. While the foreign direct investment...
Parliament: the monsoon session
Continuing our regular coverage of India’s parliamentary sessions, Mandira Kala and Roopal Suhag assess key commercial bills that were debated and passed during the recent session
The monsoon session of parliament in 2018 marked the...
Parliament: The winter session
Continuing our regular coverage of India’s parliamentary sessions, Mandira Kala and Gayatri Mann assess key commercial bills that were debated and passed during the recent session
Last year witnessed the introduction and passage of key...
India in 2018
In-house counsel foretell the key issues and developments that will shape the country’s business and legal environment in the year ahead
DIBYOJYOTI MAINAK
India’s ‘start-up boom’ has seen a considerable decline over the last year especially...
Parliament: The monsoon session
In the first of our planned regular coverage of India's parliamentary sessions, Mandira Kala provides a roundup of important commercial bills that were debated and passed during the recent session, and an assessment of...
Passage of four bills moves GST a step closer to reality
The proposed goods and services tax (GST) moved one step closer to becoming a reality on 27 March when the Lok Sabha (lower house of the parliament) approved the four bills which are intended...
Celebrity endorsement in the Consumer Protection Bill
People admire celebrities and if those celebrities say that they like a product then the admirer will like that particular product, too. The concept of celebrity endorsement is simple and widely used as a...
Much needed progress seen in debt recovery laws
While the passage of the goods and sales tax (GST) bill has stolen the limelight, much was achieved by lawmakers in a productive monsoon session of the Indian parliament. An unheralded achievement is the...
Laying down laws
Mandira Kala, Aravind Gayam and Vatsal Khullar analyse the key bills pending in India’s parliament that would impact domestic and international businesses
The recently concluded session of the Indian parliament was highly productive. In addition to debating the budget and...
New hope for creditors
Can the latest legislative attempt to improve India’s abysmal debt recovery rates succeed where others have failed? Rebecca Abraham reports
Winding up an ailing company in India is not for the faint-hearted. It can take more...
Digital dreams
The evolution of paperless courts offers benefits such as increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of searches and facilitating collaboration, writes Allison Stanfield
Today, a large proportion of evidence is created electronically and many documents are...
Goods and services tax: Barriers on the road ahead
Victor Hugo once said “no one can resist an idea whose time has come”. Introducing GST in India was mooted way back in 2000 but it was only last month (on 6 May) that...
Canadian oil sector may be a good bet as prices ‘bleed’
As Baron Rothschild once noted, “the time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets”. Could the recent decline of crude oil prices to six-year lows represent just such an opportunity for Indian...
Budget and private equity: A missed opportunity?
India’s recent general elections gave the country its first single party government in 30 years with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) obtaining a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. The overwhelming mandate coupled with...
Modi’s landslide
What now for the laws of business and the business of law? Fourteen members of the legal community discuss what to expect from India’s new government
Narendra Modi is a “wildcard”, an “unknown quantity” to...
Companies Act 2013: new rules now in place
The Companies Bill, 2012, was passed by the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) on 18 December 2012 and by the Rajya Sabha (upper house) on 8 August 2013. Following presidential assent on 29...
Is India at a tipping point?
Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny ...
Powerful oratory from India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in a speech made on the eve of India’s independence, when he famously said India was...
Election Commission issues rules on use of social media
Political campaigning used to mean gathering crowds and yelling catchy slogans to lure voters – Garibi Hatao (Abolish Poverty) and the like – larger-than-life grinning political leaders staring down large from hoardings and full-page...
New anti-corruption act: Will it be a wake-up call?
Corruption is impeding the growth and development of India. The need for an effective institution to tackle corruption allegations against government officials led to the passage of the historic Lokpal bill in 2013, which...
Wrongful ‘gift’ will truly be expensive for companies
The US Department of Justice requires, at the minimum, that gifts by companies must be of modest value, appropriate under the circumstances and given in accordance with anti-corruption laws and regulations, including those of...
Voters to enjoy secrecy via ‘none of the above’ option
Thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision in People’s Union for Civil Liberties & anr v Union of India & anr, every voter in India can now exercise their right not to vote while at...
Key amendments incorporated in Finance Act, 2013
The president of India on 10 May signed into effect the Finance Act, 2013. Several key amendments were incorporated into the Finance Act during the course of its passage through the Lok Sabha (the...
Bill offers new protections for minority shareholders
While the Companies Act, 1956, includes certain provisions for protection of minority shareholders’ interests, the Companies Bill, 2012, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on 18 December 2012, has introduced further significant provisions...
Wheels in motion?
Vishnu Padmanabhan examines the key bills passing through India’s parliament that may affect domestic and international businesses
As India’s economic growth slows, almost everyone is clamouring for reforms. In India’s parliamentary democracy, any reform or...
Bill may open new avenues for cross-border mergers
In this era of economic recovery, an effective legislative framework is needed to facilitate and regulate corporate transactions, including cross-border mergers. Cross-border mergers can be challenging yet exciting, given the regulatory, corporate, competition, accounting,...
Corporate governance undergoing major review
Corporate governance is the acceptance by a company’s management of the inalienable rights of the shareholders as the true owners of the company and of the management’s role as trustees on behalf of the...
Foreign retailers should get set to drive into India
The retail juggernaut is ready to roll in India. After announcing that multi-brand retail (MBR) would be opened to foreign direct investment (FDI), the Congress government was virtually under siege. It was widely speculated...
Companies and banks see laws change with the times
December 2012 witnessed progress for key reform legislation aimed at changing the business landscape of India. After hanging in limbo for a long time, the lower house of the parliament cleared the revised draft...
India in 2013
Legal practitioners and in-house counsel share some of their predictions for the year ahead
Bhavna Thakur, director, capital markets origination equities, Citigroup Global Markets India: For the Indian economy and capital markets, 2012 has been...
Any takers?
A package of reforms aimed at whetting investors’ appetites may be too little too late
Vandana Chatlani reports
“Please remember, when the investment was not there, we did not eat lizards,” the former finance minister,...
New policy needed for compulsory land acquisition
The law for compulsory land acquisition in India dates back to colonial times, when it enabled the government to acquire land at a fair market price for roads, canals and other public purposes.
The first...
Negative list approach to taxing services introduced
The Union Budget 2012-13 has proposed a paradigm shift in the way in which services are taxed, by moving from a “positive list” to a “negative list” approach. Currently, only notified services attract service...
In the pipeline
Of 97 bills that are languishing before India’s parliament, 10 would have a significant impact on business and investment, if passed. Chakshu Roy offers a foretaste of the key changes that can be expected
As...
Legal means created to curb corruption in India
Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain and encompasses corrupt practices in both the public and private sectors. It has become imperative to curb the corruption in India and the legislature...
Legal Market Report & Directory of Indian Law Firms – 2011
To accompany this year’s directory of Indian law firms, India Business Law Journal consulted widely with the country’s legal practitioners to reveal the current state of play in the legal market
Vandana Chatlani reports
Ashopkeeper in...
Who’s who?
The line between lawmakers and legal advisers is blurred. Is it desirable for legal advisers to draft laws on which they will advise?
Raghavendra Verma reports from New Delhi
The Competition Act, the Data Protection Act...
Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010
Following President Barack Obama’s recent visit to India, reports in the media suggest that the central government has so far resisted any pressure from the US on making changes in certain provisions of the...
Cleaning up India’s courts
Civil liberties lawyer Prashant Bhushan shares his controversial views on judicial accountability and explains why he believes the government is reluctant to tackle corruption
Interview and photographs by Raghavendra Verma
Prashant Bhushan, a 54-year-old civil liberties...
Are your hands clean?
In the wake of the Bhopal verdict, the BP oil spill and India’s new nuclear damage bill, fears over corporate liability – and in some cases the lack of it – have resurfaced
Vandana Chatlani...
On your marks
India is racing to upgrade its creaking IP infrastructure. Will the improvements be fast enough to ensure a timely accession to the Madrid Protocol and satisfy the demands of domestic and international rights holders?
Vandana Chatlani reports
To...
Madrid Protocol: Global protection of trademarks
With India adopting the Madrid Protocol and the consequent need to harmonize the system of trademark prosecution, amendments to the existing trademark law have been suggested.
The Trade Marks Amendment Bill, 2007, the first step...
Rebuilding value
Last year the Indian real estate market saw one of its worst plunges in recent history. The sector is now rebounding, with postponed and cancelled projects back on track
George W Russell reports
One sure sign of...
Defending a powerful brand
A case study of the intellectual property challenges faced by the Tata Group illustrates the complexities of managing and protecting the IP interests of large diversified corporations
Achuthan Sreekumar reports
In the mid-1990s the Tata Group...
FoxMandal trio enters parliament
As supporters of India’s Congress party revelled in the news of its decisive victory, FoxMandal Little, one of the country’s largest law firms, celebrated the election of three of its lawyers to the Lok...
A step towards greater triumphs
It’s hard to believe that Twenty20 was born less than five years ago. Today, test cricket faces eclipse. It goes to show that projects of great moment seize their chance
This month India Business Law...
Proposed amendments to the Land Acquisition Act
The Land Acquisition Act, 1894, governs the acquisition of private land for any purpose by government or private entities. Practical experience shows that the process of land acquisition is beset with uncertain timelines, administrative...
Law Ministry seeks advice on Sen
The controversy surrounding a judge of the High Court of Calcutta, Soumitra Sen, is set to linger after the Union Ministry of Law and Justice declared in October that it was not sure if...
Legislative and regulatory update – October 2007
Banking
Banks have to provide borrowers with a copy of any loan agreement, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on 22 August. According to the RBI, some banks were violating the Guidelines on Fair...
Consensus eludes judges bill
Legislators may be able to agree that corruption is problem in the judicial system, but agreeing on a solution appears to be beyond them.
A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice Ministry panel, tasked...
A new era of securitization
The securitization market in India began evolving from the mid-1990s when originators such as ICICI and Citigroup took the lead in developing it at an institutional level.
The issuance of securitization saw exponential growth from...
A round-up of legislative and regulatory developments
thForeign institutional investors, mutual funds, and other institutions may be allowed to short sell their stocks under a March proposal by the capital markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Though...
