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In April 2014, the Indian government introduced a detailed corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) regime as a part of the then newly introduced Companies Act, 2013 (the “Act”). As per Section 135 of the Act, CSR obligations apply to all companies, who, in the preceding financial year have a: net worth of at least INR5 billion…

Recently, in the case of Technip France SA, the Authority for Advance Rulings (the “AAR”) dealt with the issue of taxability in India of an offshore supply of equipment and provision of offshore services. The AAR held that the payment for the offshore supply was not taxable in India, as the delivery and title of…

Recently, in Ireo Grace Realtech Private Limited v. Abhishek Khanna and Ors. (C.A. 5785 of 2019), India’s Supreme Court (the “SC”) examined the binding value of oppressive and one-sided contracts, and the recourse for affected parties under Indian consumer protection laws.

Enforcement action in the US In March 2020, the Securities Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) formed a Coronavirus Steering Committee to actively oversee the monitoring of COVID-19-related misconduct by listed entities. On December 4, 2020, the SEC issued its first enforcement order against a listed entity for making misleading disclosures about the financial impact of the…

Introduction India’s Union Budget (the “Budget”) was announced today (February 1, 2021), and the Finance Bill, 2021 (the “Finance Bill”) was tabled in Parliament. The Finance Bill will be discussed in Parliament before its enactment, and therefore, it is likely that the Finance Bill may be amended because of these discussions. Once enacted, unless specified…

India’s pharmaceutical and life sciences industry plays a pivotal role on the world stage, fulfilling over 50% of the global demand for vaccines, 40% of demand for generic drugs in the USA and 25% of all medicine in the UK.

Recently, in the case of Dholi Spintex Pvt Ltd v. Louis Dreyfus Company India Pvt Ltd, the Delhi High Court (DHC) held that two Indian parties can agree to a foreign law governing the arbitration. In this case, the DHC relied on GMR Energy Limited vs. Doosan Power System India Ltd. & Ors. and Reliance…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread economic uncertainty globally, and coupled with the US-China trade war, has caused countries to adopt protectionist measures.  While the regulations introduced by India, the US, the UK, and the European Union have taken different forms, the underlying concern is uniform – save homegrown companies, especially in strategic sectors, from being acquired by state-backed investors from other countries.

The first Human Immunodeficiency Virus (“HIV”) infection was detected in India in 1986, and currently, India has about 2.3 million people living with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (“AIDS”).  AIDS is not only life-threatening but, unfortunately, also results in the discrimination and stigmatization of the affected individuals and their families.  This has far-reaching economic and societal consequences.  Due to the lack of knowledge of the disease, affected individuals are often deprived of livelihood opportunities or face ostracism at the workplace. 

On November 20, 2020, the internal working group of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its report listing out some recommendations for changes to banking license requirements and the corporate structure of private sector banks in India.