Investigative Powers Of The SFIO: Understanding The Nuances Involved

On 14th September 2020, the investigation by the Serious Fraud Investigations Office ('SFIO') into the affairs of Karvy Stock Broking Limited was stayed vide an interim order of the Telangana High Court, where the division bench observed that various documents were missing from the record and that the procedure under section 206 of the Companies Act, 2013 (the "Act") was not followed.[i] This order was passed in an appeal filed by the company against an order of the Single Judge of the...

Supreme Court Of India Clarifies 'What Is Arbitrable' Under Indian Law And Provides Guidance To Forums In Addressing The Question

In the recent spate of amendments to the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (the "Arbitration Act"), one issue remained overlooked – whether a particular dispute can be referred to arbitration or whether such dispute is exclusively reserved for adjudication by a court. A likely reason for this is the absence of an express provision in the Arbitration Act. Section 2(3) of the Arbitration Act provides that "certain disputes may not be submitted to arbitration". Further, Sections...

Watching Passing Off Through The Lens Of Trademark?

When R. F. V.Heuston penned Salmond's LAW of TORTS, little did he know, that the concept of the passing off action as explained by him would be so much generalized and mixed up by legal interpreters. Hon'bleJustice Lahoti(Supreme Court) in his judgment in the matter of Laxmikant V. Patel v/s Chetanbhai Shah, (2002) 3 SCC 65, which is even today considered a classic judgment on the issue of passing off, referred the content of Salmond's Law on Torts and Christopher Wadlow'sbook titled "The...

Will The CCI's Market Study On Private Equity Investments Provide Clarity For Minority Investments?

In light of the growing trend of private equity ("PE") firms acquiring minority stakes in multiple firms in the same sector, the Chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (the "CCI") has recently announced that the CCI proposes to conduct a market study to analyse the incentives and rights associated with such minority investments, and its impact on competition in India. This concern was first highlighted by the CCI in Meru v. Ola/Uber[2] in June 2018, where the CCI examined ...

Understanding And Addressing The Regulatory Void In Online Gaming Through Recent Judgments

The Indian tryst with online gaming, its legality and regulation has been a long one. As our society edges closer to being inundated with mobile phones and high-speed internet connectivity, we can see a corresponding rise in the menace of online gambling and the need for its management, so as to weed out illegitimate activities while protecting legitimate players. The Constitution of India under Article 246 refers to the division of legislative power between the center and the states....

Indian Arbitration – Yearly Review (Landmark Judgments Rendered In The Year 2020)

In recent years, various Indian courts have delivered decisions that have aimed to reduce the scope of intrusion in the arbitral process and make India an arbitration-friendly jurisdiction. The year 2020 was no exception to the trend of promoting arbitration, as we witnessed some landmark judgments being delivered to fortify the contours of the law of arbitration. We have summarised twenty of the most significant judgments rendered during the year 2020 in this article.1. State of Gujarat ...

Non-Convertible Debentures: Entry Routes For Foreign Investors

Since January 2020, there have been more than 10[1] public issues of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and over 1,600[2] private placements of corporate bonds in India, which is encouraging given the COVID-19 pandemic and brief loss of investor appetite in the initial phase of the pandemic. An increasing number of M&A transactions also now involve NCDs as a form of consideration/funding. As such, the rising popularity of NCDs as a preferred mode of structured debt in India is not...

Online Gaming In India: A Legal Puzzle

India's online gaming industry has been buzzing with activity of late. The industry has already seen phenomenal growth and offers vast potential ahead, given India's young population and the expansive reach of mobiles and internet. Industry revenue is expected to grow from around USD 600 million in FY18 to USD 1.6 billion by FY23, at a CAGR of 22.1%[1]. Fantasy sports games, in particular, have received much interest from Indian and foreign investors. Dream 11 reportedly became India's ...

The New Indian Data Privacy Bill & Its Impact On Business

Data is a collection of names, numbers, dates, measurements formatted to be machine readable. Data is responsible for boosting a company's revenue, building target audience as well as modifying their products or services to meet demands. Several sources predict exponential growth where size of data doubles every two years. The growth rate has multiplied from two zettabytes in 2010 to 59 zettabytes in 2020. It is forecasted to go beyond 149 zettabytes in the next four years (Statista,...

Litigation Funding

Litigation Funding, commonly referred to as Third-Party Funding (TPF), refers to the process of covering a party's litigation expenses by a funder in return, for a share in the litigation's monetary award. Litigation funding can cover the costs of any kind of dispute resolution process, whether it is conventional legal proceedings, arbitration and/or mediation. Under Litigation Funding, all or part of the costs borne by one of the parties to the arbitral proceedings is funded by an ...

IBC: Can IRPs And RPs Unilaterally Amend Existing Contracts Executed By Debtors?

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) aims to revive debtor entities facing financial stress. Approval of a resolution plan for a debtor by its financial creditors marks the success of the IBC process, but the period leading up to it – the 180-day corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) – is also critical. Interim resolution professionals (IRPs) and resolution professionals (RPs) run the management and affairs of the debtor during this period and have the important task...

Simultaneous CIRPs Against Principal Borrower And Corporate Guarantor For The Same Debt

In any financial transaction pertaining to granting loans to the corporates, one of the most conventional methods adopted by banks and financial institutions include obtaining a guarantee from either the promoter or the holding/group companies of such corporate. Such guarantees and related contracts are governed under the provisions of Indian Contract Act, 1872 under the principle of coextensive liability of the surety and the principal debtor. However, after the introduction of the ...