Corporate Law

On 13th June 2018, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs notified Section 90 of the Companies Act, 2013 ("Act") and the Companies (Significant Beneficial Owners) Rules, 2018 ("SBO Rules"). Both aim to make transparent a company’s ownership by tracing the identity of the individuals who ultimately control the company....

In one of its recent decisions, the Kerala High Court ("Court")in Rasitha C.H. vs State of Kerala and Others has reinstated that merely on the basis of being contractual employees, women cannot be deprived of the maternity benefits. The judgement has been propounded by Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque. ...

The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 ("Act") was implemented with the intention of amending the law related to promissory notes, bills of exchange and cheques. The Act has been amended time and again to ensure and enhance the trust in negotiable instruments. In furtherance to this, an amendment to the Act has been passed by introducing the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2017 which was given the Presidential assent on the 2nd of August 2018, making the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2018 ("Amendment Act") come into existence. In furtherance to the assent, the Amendment Act has become effective from the 1st of September 2018, after being notified in the official gazette....

The Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018 ("Amendment Act") has brought about significant amendments to the Specific Relief Act, 1963 ("Act"), the critical one being that specific performance is now (unless a case falls within the exceptions) the norm instead of a discretionary power with Indian Courts. Our present series of articles focus on the four exceptions to the specific performance rule. In Part 1 of the series we discussed substituted performance, in Part 2 we discussed contracts that involve a continuous duty which cannot be supervised by Courts, in Part 3 we discussed contracts involving personal qualifications and in this Part 4 we shall discuss the fourth exception that has been carved out i.e. contracts that are determinable in nature cannot be specifically enforced....

The Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018 ("Amendment Act") has brought about significant amendments to the Specific Relief Act, 1963 ("Act"), the critical one being that specific performance is now (unless a case falls within the exceptions) the norm instead of a discretionary power with Indian Courts. Our present series of articles focus on the four exceptions to the specific performance rule. In Part 1 of the series we discussed substituted performance, in Part 2 we discussed contracts that involve a continuous duty which cannot be supervised by Courts and in Part 3 we discuss the third exception that has been carved out i.e. contracts involving personal qualifications cannot be specifically enforced....

The Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018 ("Amendment Act") has brought about significant amendments to the Specific Relief Act, 1963 ("Act"), the critical one being that specific performance is now (unless a case falls within the exceptions) the norm instead of a discretionary power with Indian Courts. Our present series of articles focus on the four exceptions to the specific performance rule. In Part 1 of the series we discussed substituted performance and in Part 2 we discuss the second exception that has been carved out....

The Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018 ("Amendment Act"), which has brought significant amendments to the Specific Relief Act, 1963 ("Act") was notified on August 1, 2018 and has become effective therefrom. While the Amendment Act has introduced various changes, one of the most significant change introduced is that specific performance of contracts has been made a rule rather than an exception. In our next series of articles, we focus on the four exceptions laid down in the Amendment Act to the specific performance rule....

The Parliament has passed the Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill, 2018 ("Bill"), which brings about significant amendments to the Specific Relief Act, 1963 ("Act"). On July 23, 2018, the Rajya Sabha passed the Bill, which had been passed by the Lok Sabha on March 15, 2018. The Bill is currently awaiting President’s assent, following which it will be part of the law. In this article, we are providing a brief overview of the significant changes brought about by the Bill....

Clauses that usually appear at the end of a contract are called Boiler Plate Clauses. Although often grouped together, boilerplate provisions don't have much in common with one another except that they don't fit anywhere else in the agreement. For that reason, they are usually clubbed together at the end of the agreement under a title such as "Miscellaneous," "General," or "Standard." Most boilerplate clauses clarify the relationship between the contracting parties. Typically, when a dispute arises it is these boiler plate clauses which are first referred to. The effect of a boilerplate clause is most often noticed when it is omitted from a contract. In the present series, we are focusing on four significant boiler plate clauses of a contract – assignment, severability, notices and force majeure....