Corporate Law

Labour laws in India have traditionally been governed by multifarious and fragmented legislations, both at the central and state level. With a view to harmonising and consolidating the various legislations pertaining to wages, the Ministry of Labour and Employment (“Ministry“) first introduced the Code on Wages Act in Lok Sabha on August 10, 2017, which lapsed. The Code on Wages Act, 2019 was reintroduced in the Lok Sabha on July 23, 2019 and gained presidential assent on August 08, 2019 after getting passed in both houses of the Parliament....

Legacies, while the sturdiest, are often the most vulnerable to that harsh cousin of time, change. The battle royale being played out between Tata Sons and Cyrus Mistry, of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, certainly seems to echo the thought, and is being closely monitored, as the outcome will set the way forward for one of the biggest conglomerates in India....

In a recent judgment delivered by Hon’ble Judge Indu Malhotra in the case of Dalmia Power Limited and Ors. Vs. The Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Circle 1, Trichy[1], the Supreme Court of India ("Court") upheld the validity of filing of revised returns by an amalgamated company beyond the time limit prescribed under the Income Tax Act, 1961 ("IT Act")....

The gig economy in India has been growing at breakneck speed. A recent study ‘Professional Gig Economy 2018-19 Report Card’ undertaken by Flexing It, a gig platform has revealed that as many as 72% of all gig projects were in large corporates and professional services firms in 2018-19 compared with 52% two years back. Plus, most of the professional gig economy segments have seen growth double in two years....

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs ("MCA") vide its press release dated November 15, 2019 has notified the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Insolvency and Liquidation Proceedings of Financial Service Providers and Application to Adjudicating Authority) Rules, 2019 ("Rules"). The Rules provide a framework for the insolvency and liquidation proceedings of systematically important Financial Service Providers ("FSPs") excluding banks. ...

Related party transactions have once again found themselves the subject of public scrutiny due to occurrences at InterGlobe Aviation Limited ("Interglobe"), which runs and operates the low-cost airline Indigo. Interglobe has been facing stormy weather following a dispute between its promoters, Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia. Since mid-2018 the feud between both promoters has snowballed into a very public feud. While there are several contentious issues on which the promoters disagree, one of the main reasons for their public fallout has been over related party transactions. In 2018, Rakesh Gangwal flagged and alleged that Interglobe has entered into related party transactions with several companies associated with Rahul Bhatia, a charge that the latter insists is mala fide. ...

It is widely considered that independent directors on the board of a company would improve corporate governance, especially given the responsibility of the board to balance various interests. The reason for such belief stems from the opinion that the directors representing specific interests would be confined to the perspective dictated by those interests, whereas, an independent director could bring an element of objectivity to the decision making process of the board with regards to the general interests of the company and also protect minority shareholders ....

In a bid to facilitate mergers and acquisitions ("Combination") in the country, the Competition Commission of India ("CCI") has taken inspiration from the customs department and established a 'green channel'. No, it won't save you paper, but it is designed to save you precious hours. ...

India opened up its economy in 1991 and has since considerably eased foreign direct investment (FDI) norms across various sectors of the economy, with a viewpoint of liberalizing the FDI regime in the country. Fast forward to 2019 and the current government, in order to further boost the economy and FDI inflows, has approved certain amendments to the existing FDI policy ("FDI Policy") of the country....