Important Supreme Court Judgments On Arbitration Passed Recently

The Supreme Court of India has pronounced numerous judgments in the matters related to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, from January, 2021 to May, 2021. In this write-up, the important pronouncements are briefly discussed. CHINTELS INDIA LTD. V. BHAYANA BUILDERS PVT. LTD., CIVIL APPEAL NO. 4028 OF 2020. AN APPEAL UNDER SECTION 37(1) (C) OF THE ARBITRATION ACT, 1996 WOULD BE MAINTAINABLE AGAINST AN ORDER REFUSING TO CONDONE DELAY IN FILING AN APPLICATION UNDER SECTION 34...

Selective Hiring Of 'Dom' Caste Amid Pandemic In West Bengal: The Casteist Attack On The Constitution

The Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal has been issuing a series of Orders regarding the selective hiring of 'Dom' caste for disposing COVID-19 positive dead bodies. The nature of these Orders is prima facie casteist, and by resembling the caste (jati) system, diminishes the values of the Indian Constitution. The Orders which range from 26th December 2019 to as recently as 7th May 2021, inter alia, direct the specific engagement of individuals...

The Government Of National Capital Territory Of Delhi (Amendment) Act 2021

On 27th April 2021, after receiving assent of the President, the Government of India enacted the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act 2021 ("Amendment Act"). It was first introduced in the Lok Sabha on 15th March 2021 and was passed by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on 22nd March 2021 and 24th March 2021 respectively. The Amendment Act aims to resolve the conflict between the two heads of Delhi i.e., the Chief Minister and the Lieutenant Governor, by...

Women's Reproductive Rights In India And Beyond

Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the rights to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence."Reproductive and sexual health of an individual is an important...

A Critical Analysis Of RPFC Telangana Vs. Vandana Garg And Ors. Of NCLAT, Chennai Bench

A recent order dated 12th May 2021 by the NCLAT Chennai Bench in Regional Provident Fund Commissioner Vs. Vandana Garg and Ors. [CA (AT) (Ins.) No.50 of 2021] prompted me to have this write-up about the order. At the outset, I am of the humble view that this order requires reconsideration. The RPF Commissioner, Telangana filed the appeal before NCLAT Chennai Bench under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 to obtain an order for inclusion of total claim of Provident fund dues from...

The Pernicious Persistent Paternalism Of Indian Courts

In the words of Granville Austin, the Constituent Assembly envisaged the Indian Judiciary as a bastion of rights and justice. However, recent string of orders from the Punjab and Haryana High Court reflect the court's tendency to relinquish their constitutionally mandated role, in favour of acting as a guardian of 'public morality' and 'social fabric' of society (see here, here and here). The court on May 18, 2021, in a rather injudicious order, declined to grant protection to a couple who...

Hoarding And Black Marketing – Undefined And Unchecked Wrongful Gains In A Time Of Acute Crisis To Be Tested Morally Or, Legally?

The pandemic has had a profound impact on access to health care services and has been made more disruptive by the parallel clandestine market. Admist the Covid-19 pandemic, the problems faced have only been exacerbated by the institutional lack of necessary supplies like medicines, oxygen, refilling of oxygen cylinders and unavailability of hospital beds. In such times of distress and hardship, silver lining is, people helping each other find these essential lifesaving commodities....

"A Critical Comment On Supreme Court's Judgment In Forum For People's Collective Efforts v. State Of West Bengal"

While entertaining a Writ Petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, 1950 (hereinafter referred to as "the Constitution") filed by a non-profit company[1], a two Judges Bench of the Supreme Court in Forum for People's Collective Efforts (FPCE) & Anr v. State Of West Bengal and Others[2] (hereinafter referred to as "the FPCE case") struck down the West Bengal Housing Industry Regulation Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as "HIRA"). In its elaborate analysis[3], the...

Digitalization Of The Corporate World

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely altered the manner in which companies conduct their business. Almost all leading industrialised nations have already enacted crisis legislation in the field of company law. It has become difficult and sometimes impossible to conduct in – person meetings. After taking the cognizance of the disruptions in the functioning of companies, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India ("MCA") announced several relaxations in regulatory and statutory ...

Takeaways For The Indian Cross-Border Insolvency Regime In Light Of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis unlike any other. It has wreaked havoc on the economies of many countries around the world. As COVID-19 spreads, several companies have been negatively affected, and others have come to a halt. The vast number of major corporate downturns in the last two years have involved multiple jurisdictions, rendering foreign insolvencies common, rather than something rare. Cross-border insolvency refers to a scenario in which an insolvent debtor has assets in...

Comparative Analysis Of Eligibility Criteria For The Accredited Investors Proposed By SEBI

The SEBI, through its consultation paper, has recently introduced the concept of Accredited Investors (AI) in the Indian Securities Market. The objective behind introducing this concept is to recognize a certain class of investors who have good financial acumen with a tendency to make informed decisions regarding the investments and have the ability to take the risk due to their higher loss absorption capacity. It is a commendable move by the SEBI where it has gone beyond its...

The COVID-19 Chronicle: An Analysis Of Institutional Execution Of The Constitutional Mandate

Background of Constitutional Obligation: Access of Right to Health When faced with determining issues of medico-legal significance, Indian courts have emphatically highlighted the constitutional obligation cast upon the government to lend paramountcy to the safety and wellbeing of the citizenry. In the Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity & Others case, the Supreme Court emphasised that as a welfare state, the improvement of public health is a primary duty, hence, it is obligated to ...