Category: Legal Updates

Supreme Court of India Clarifies ‘What is Arbitrable’ under Indian Law and Provides Guidance to Forums in Addressing the Question

Legal Updates | January 5, 2021 | Practice Area:

In the recent spate of amendments to the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (the “Arbitration Act”), one issue remained overlooked – whether a particular dispute can be referred to arbitration or whether such dispute is exclusively reserved for adjudication by a court. For almost a decade, the sole guidance to courts deciding this question was the test formulated by the Supreme Court of India (the “Supreme Court”) in Booz Allen and Hamilton Inc v. SBI Home Finance Ltd. & Others (2011) 5 SCC 532 (“Booz-Allen Test”). However a closer look at the rulings of the Supreme Court over the last few years reveal that the Booz-Allen Test has failed to withstand the test of time – the ‘nature of rights’ principle on which the test is predicated has been found inadequate to conclusively determine the question of arbitrability. Recently, the Supreme Court revisited this question in Vidya Drolia & Others v. Durga Trading Corporation 2019 SCCOnLine SC 358 (“Vidya Drolia”) and proposed a four-fold test to determine arbitrability under Indian law. The Supreme Court also issued guidance to forums adjudicating this issue.

COVID-19: Suspension of Insolvency Proceedings in India

COVID-19 Resources | June 6, 2020 | Practice Area: ,

On June 5, 2020, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was amended to inter-alia prohibit creditors and corporate debtors from initiating corporate insolvency resolution proceedings in respect of defaults arising during the six (6) month period from and including March 25, 2020 (the date of commencement of the national lockdown) – this period may be extended up to one (1) year.

COVID-19: Temporary Easing of SEBI Fund-raising Rules

COVID-19 Resources | April 23, 2020 | Practice Area: ,

With a view to facilitate fund-raising from the capital markets in the wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has decided to grant certain relaxations from the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018, as amended, to public issues (both initial and further public offerings) and rights issues. The relaxations, which are contained in two separate SEBI circulars each dated April 21, 2020, essentially relate to (i) the validity of the SEBI observations, (ii) the requirement to file a fresh draft offer document in case of change in issue size and (iii) certain conditions applicable to rights issues.

COVID-19: Changes to India’s FDI Regime

COVID-19 Resources | April 20, 2020 | Practice Area: ,

In a significant move, the Indian Government has, in a bid to curb opportunistic takeovers of Indian companies as a result of COVID-19, directed that all investments from countries that share land borders with India will require prior regulatory approval. This change covers both direct and indirect investments and comes in the wake of recent acquisitions and exploration of investment opportunities by Chinese investors in India, scrutiny by the Indian securities regulator of Chinese ownership of portfolio investors and the introduction of stricter FDI regimes worldwide.

COVID 19: Revised default trigger under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code

COVID-19 Resources | March 31, 2020 | Practice Area: , ,

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread disruption of businesses and daily life. As governments across the world struggle to contain the pandemic, a number of regulatory and policy measures are being implemented by the Government of India to minimize the impact of the disruption caused to several classes of persons and corporate bodies.

A recent measure is the increase in the threshold for default by corporate debtors under Section 4 of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the “Code”) from INR 100,000 to INR 10,000,000 and a potential suspension of certain key provisions of the Code. These measures may have some positive and certain unintended consequences of concern to stakeholders.

COVID-19: Coping with the Pandemic and the Changing Regulatory Regime in India

COVID-19 Resources | March 21, 2020 | Practice Area: , , ,

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused widespread disruption of businesses and daily life. As governments across the world struggle to contain the pandemic, a number of measures are being implemented aimed at minimizing its spread. In India, such measures are increasingly taking the form of mandatory social distancing through the imposition of a series of restrictions. As the situation evolves, the requirement for further restrictions is being constantly evaluated by governments and new measures are being implemented. The pandemic and the resulting measures raise a host of legal issues and concerns for businesses. This update analyzes certain legal and regulatory concerns arising in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent restrictions.

The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019

Legal Updates | January 3, 2020 | Practice Area: , , ,

The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 (“PDP Bill”), which was presented before the lower house of the Indian Parliament on December 11, 2019, seeks to provide for the protection of personal data of individuals and establish a Data Protection Authority. The PDP Bill has been referred to a joint select committee of both the houses of the Indian Parliament, which is expected to submit its report in early 2020. Accordingly, there may be changes to the PDP Bill based on the recommendations of the joint select committee. Once enacted, the PDP Bill will replace Section 43 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 and prevail over any other inconsistent laws in this regard (e.g., any sector-specific laws). This note provides an overview of the PDP Bill

Goliath v. Goliath: The Supreme Court Verdict Putting an end to the Battle for Essar Steel

Legal Updates | November 19, 2019 | Practice Area: , ,

By a judgment dated November 15, 2019, the Supreme Court of India has put an end to the long drawn out battle for the acquisition of steel giant – Essar Steel India Limited (“Essar Steel”) under India’s newly introduced insolvency legislation.

Competition Commission of India Notifies Amendments to the Combination Regulations, 2011

Legal Updates | August 16, 2019 | Practice Area:

On August 13, 2019, pursuant to Gazette Notification F.No. CCI/CD/Amend/Comb. Regl./2019, the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) notified certain amendments to the Competition Commission of India (Procedure in Regard to the Transaction of Business Relating to Combinations) Regulations, 2011 (the “Combination Regulations”). The amended Combination Regulations came into effect on 15 August 2019.