| Global trade in some sectors unviable | 23-NOV-09 |
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| My first meaningful encounter with environmental law was in a Supreme Court PIL involving use and storage of asbestos in industrial activity, specifically in relation to employee health. I recall a random remark, meant in good faith, in a preparatory meeting with the manufacturer client alluding to “a price one paid for the benefits of industrialisation". It was not meant to be frivolous. |
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| Let litigation be the last resort | 09-NOV-09 |
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| As a business lawyer, one gets to participate and speak at various conferences. And while the underlying purpose is to network, one also continues to derive knowledge as I did last month in the Gateway Conference held in Delhi in the session on 'Safeguarding Investment by the Litigation Process'. A joint session between lawyers and accountants, the team from Grant Thornton provided a fascinating insight on the role of forensic accountancy in identifying, analysing and presenting electronic evidence. |
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| Lawyer role in mergers and acquisitions | 28-SEP-09 |
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| As a lawyer it’s not uncommon to be confronted with unwarranted accusations of creating complexities out of simple situations — some Mr Know-it-All will corner you at a dinner and hold forth on how lawyers and accountants make a big “deal” of M&A activities, that they tend to sideline all other considerations except what they receive. Even though such barbs deserve to be ignored, it sent me thinking on the lawyer’s role in M&A. |
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| 'Toothless' MRTP is laid to rest | 14-SEP-09 |
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| From September 1, 2009, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act 1969 has been laid to rest, and the Commission will not accept fresh filings. By now all readers are aware of the roadblocks involved, being various court cases, with challenges to the appointment of the chairperson, the status of pending cases and existing employees. Amendments to the Competition Act 2002, and its slow passage in the Houses of Parliament delayed the introduction of an effective anti trust law, a vital element in an open economy which aspires to be a global major. |
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| Onus of liability in case of nuclear mishaps | 31-AUG-09 |
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| Ever since the Clinton visit, rumours have been flying fast and furious. Insiders claim that India has fast forwarded the Nuclear Civil Liability Bill, and the media has held forth at length on the probable facts and interpretations. Some angst is misplaced, for example the exclusion of the jurisdiction of civil courts. |
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| Laws governing economic offences need to be updated | 03-AUG-09 |
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| Sometimes wishful thinking pays off. RBI, in making passwords or PIN mandatory for credit card online transactions has taken the first step in protecting card fraud, the most rampant of technology offences, belonging to the wider genre of economic offences. It may be simplistic, but not incorrect to attribute the upswing to opportunities created by globalisation and the increasingly important role of information transmission. Also, such crimes involve players from multiple jurisdictions, who deploy sophisticated technology. |
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| India stands to gain from nuclear talks | 20-JUL-09 |
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| The facts as presented by the media appear to be disheartening. The government’s official stand that India does not face any threat lacks conviction. There are contracts and policy statements, business and bilateral tie-ups, and the issue of global protection. In a bundle, it’s the future of nuclear India – on which the last government and the present Prime Minister had staked their survival, to remove the trade and technology isolation. |
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| IT Act 2008 gets tougher with cyber crime | 06-JUL-09 |
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| It's a long journey for the Information Technology (IT) Act 2008, passed sometime in February this year, and yet to be notified. The IT Act 2000, the first law to address the diverse legal issues emanating from India’s phenomena IT growth, proceeded on a fundamental premise in trying to provide an omnibus law to cover e-governance, e-commerce, e-archiving, as well as the basic framework for cyber security and cyber crimes. The platform was deficient, as issues of cyber security, particularly in the context of the proliferation in internet transactions for goods and services, transfer of funds through banks, online credit card payments, which exposed and enhanced the scope of vulnerability to frauds and other crimes, were not addressed. |
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| Fund's foray into defence sector in a quagmire | 22-JUN-09 |
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| The Mumbai-based India Rising Fund (IRF), the venture fund for investment in the defence sector in India, the first of its kind and also the only one to be registered with the Sec-urities and Exchange of India, is caught in a quag-mire of interpretation iss-ues, i.e. whether their investment proposal is subject to sectoral caps. |
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| In case of Satyam, issue is not just about money, but biz ethics | 11-MAY-09 |
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| December 2009, India faced its biggest shakeup in the realm of corporate governance and ethics in the Satyam debacle. In the very same month, the curtains closed on Siemens AG’s bribery scandal with the corporation pleading guilty to the charges brought against it under forty counts of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by settling at a record amount of $800 million towards fines, disgorgement of profits etc. |
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| The whys, whats and wherefores of QIPs | 27-APR-09 |
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| An occupational hazard in being a business lawyer is that one is subjected to frequent and random questions on social occasions. Some stem from genuine interest, while others range from seeking free advise to one-upmanship. |
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| Due Diligence: Participation of lawyers critical | 13-APR-09 |
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| For us, the buck started moving with title searches in the sub-registrar’s office – and anybody who’s been there, feels he’s seen it all, till you discover the world outside your toadpool. The inspection of municipal and ROC records is a move up the rung. |
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| Press Note 4/2009 deserves a 'thumbs up' | 30-MAR-09 |
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| It is never too late to express appreciation or criticise a policy change, even if it’s a month down the line. Press Note 4/2009 (PN 4/09) deserves a “thumbs up” for having done away with Press Note 9/99 (PN 9/99), which had posed, perhaps unintentionally, a roadblock to FDI. |
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| Unclear as to which way the FDI policy will swing | 02-MAR-09 |
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| The flip-flops in the latest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) guidelines, and the confusions created by the Press Notes which followed, display the discomfort of Indian regulators in dealing with offshore multi-layered investments, with demons of drug money, tax evasion and round tripping lurking in all corners. Multi-layered tax effective investment structuring is commonly resorted to by transnational corporations, leveraging favourable tax rates, no different from other advantages any destination has to offer by reason of location or resources. |
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