Two Steps Back?: Dismissal Of Review Petition Before Supreme Court In Vidarbha Industries Vs Axis Bank Ltd

The Supreme Court recently dismissed the review petition filed by Axis Bank Ltd.[1] against its decision rendered in Vidarbha Industries[2] and upheld the Apex Court's ruling that the Adjudicating Authority and the Appellate Authority under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code ('the Code') need to be mindful of the corporate debtor's financial health and viability while admitting a petition under Section 7 of the Code and that they should exercise reasonable discretion while admitting or...

Playing Catch Up With Big Tech In Antitrust Regulation

Post the Covid-19 pandemic, trade norms in India have been rewritten due to the advent of big data and internet commerce platforms. Start-ups with significant financial backing are willing to suffer short-term setbacks to capture India's demographic dividend. In addition, the establishment of a digital ecosystem has led to the introduction of disruptive marketing tactics and other innovations that frequently fall in a grey area under the current antitrust jurisprudence. This is especially...

Interpretation And Application By Courts - Section 11(6a) Of The Arbitration And Conciliation Act, 1996

Party autonomy being the backbone of arbitration, an agreement between parties may provide for arbitration as the dispute resolution mechanism. Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ('the Act') deals with provisions for appointment of arbitrator. The procedure for appointment of arbitrator may freely be decided by the parties themselves under Section 11(2) of the Act. The procedure may be provided for under the arbitration agreement. On the failure of the parties to...

Maintainability Of Appeals Under The Commercial Courts Act, 2015: A Predicament

The High Court of Delhi has recently commented on the maintainability of appeals under the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, 2015 ("CC Act") in many cases. However, the varying views taken by the Hon'ble Court in the different cases has added to the growing culture of legal predicament in India. The CC Act: A question of Interpretation The CC Act, which has a fairly long legislative history, was finally introduced in 2015...

Arbitral Fee Under The Fourth Schedule Of A&C Act, Supreme Court Settles The Issue

On August 30, 2022, the Supreme Court in the case of ONGC v. Afcons Gunanusa JV[1] whilst dealing with critical issues pertaining to the interpretation of the Fourth Schedule to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ('Act') and unilateral fixation of arbitral fee, emphasised on party autonomy in arbitration proceedings and crystalized the law relating to arbitrator's fees. The Court determined the following issues: (i)Whether arbitrator(s) are entitled to unilaterally determine...

Insolvency And Bankruptcy Code, 2016: Vision 2025

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 ("Code") was enacted by the legislature as a key mechanism for addressing the companies/ partnership firms/ individuals ("Corporate") in distress through reorganisation and process of insolvency resolution. The new Code replaced all the foregoing debt recovery laws and created a single procedure to resolve the corporate distress pertaining to insolvency and bankruptcy. The Code empowered the creditors to examine and inspect the viability of the...

Pre-Litigation Mediation Under The Commercial Courts Act – Mandatory?

Various forms of Negotiation have existed before history started to record it for posterity. In ancient times, people adapted the negotiation methodology to settle their disputes amicably. According to the Black's Law Dictionary,[1] Negotiation is a consensual bargaining process in which the parties attempt to reach an agreement on a disputed or potentially disputed matter. It involves communication in the form a dialogue between the parties to reach a mutually acceptable solution. It is a...

Consumption Of Fake Information Is Injurious To Health: Progressive Steps Towards Ad Regulation In India

The year 2020-21 bore witness to a significant number of changes relating to almost every aspect of human life and the advertising ecosystem was no exception. There was a major shift from print media to digital media: the pandemic accelerated the process of digitizing the print media, opening the floodgates to a stream of advertisements with questionable and deceptive claims. Influencers marketing came into its own. According to the TAM Agency report on TV advertising[1], as the number of...

The Shift In Working Women Shifts

The Factories Act, 1948 of India in general prohibits women employees from working at night.The Andhra Pradesh High Court had previously held that the restriction was unconstitutional and violative of the Constitution.The State Government of Andhra Pradesh has issued a notification enabling women employees in factories to work during night hours, subject to certain conditions.Only women employees who are desirous of working at night may be engaged during night hours.Factory employers are ...

The Seat Or The Assets – Where Do You Enforce The Award?

The emergence of arbitration as one of the primary mechanisms of dispute resolution has vastly changed the landscape of commercial disputes in India. Arbitration has fast become the preferred mode of dispute resolution in commercial matters in India[1]. Time limits on arbitration proceedings, strict limitation periods, and an extremely limited scope of challenge ensure that an award is ripe for enforcement much sooner than a decree in civil proceedings. But enforcing an award is a...

Non-Binding Nature Of Agreements For Future Contract

The Bombay High Courtin a recent judgment dated 20 October 2022 in the matter of Kalpataru Limited vs Middle Class Friends Co-operative Housing Society Limited held that the Tender Documents and Letter of Intent (LOI) issued to the successful bidder does not amount to be a concluded contract, if there is a reference to a future contract in the tender documents and in the LOI. The Division Bench of R.D. Dhanuka J. and Kamal Khata J. added that the terms of the contract, which were not...

Redevelopment: Whether "The Business Of The Society"

The lis pertaining to redevelopment by societies being adjudicated by civil courts is a settled law. Recently, the Bombay High Court in the case of Bhoumik Co-operative Housing Society,[1] while considering the nature of 2019 Amendment to the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 ("Act"), ("2019 Amendment") adjudicated on the aspect whether disputes pertaining to the redevelopment would fall within the term "business of the Society" and therefore a dispute under section 91 of the...