Effect Of Increase In Threshold Limit Under Section 4 Of IBC, 2016- Conflicting Judgements Of NCLT

Ever since the central government has issued the notification dated 24.03.2020 for increasing the threshold limit of default from Rs. 1 Lac to Rs. 1 Crore under Section 4 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 "Code" different benches of NCLT are giving contradictory judgements as to whether this notification has prospective or retrospective effect. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), New Delhi Bench-III has recently ruled in the matter of the "Bansal Trading Company V....

Smart Contracts And The Indian Perspective

Of the many innovations the 21st century has seen, Blockchain is arguably the most important. Briefly put, a blockchain is a virtual platform that records and stores exchanges or transactions that involve digital assets, primarily cryptocurrencies. To have a blockchain one needs multiple individuals, more than three preferably to create a distributed network, thereby ensuring the network or platform is not in the hands of anyone, i.e., it is decentralized. A given number of transactions or...

Hijab Judgment: More Questions Than Answers

In my view the consequence of Hijab Judgment is of making a song and dance about nothing. It will be read and celebrated by many who have been campaigning for 'homogeneous' identity of Indian citizens forgetting its diversity in public space. It was a thin issue where some girls who had chosen to cover their hair and neck along with the uniform of the School. It is not an issue where these girls insisted not to wear normal uniform which others did. Did this additional piece of cloth...

Can't Women Serve Liquor In Bars? Constitutional Analysis Of Legal Restrictions

Exactly a week after International Women's Day, the Excise Department of Kerala registered a case against the Manager of a bar in Kochi for deputing three Russian women as bartenders during its launch party. The matter reached the excise officials after a video of the women bartending in style took social media by storm. Although the officials cited certain irregularities in the bar's stock register, the Manager was primarily booked for employing women at the bar, violating the Kerala Foreign...

2018 Amendment To The Specific Relief Act: Retrospective Or Prospective?

The common law treated money as a measure of every loss. Until the English Courts of Chancery assumed the jurisdiction to decree Specific Performance, the only remedy in common law for the non-performance of contracts was damages. To fill that void, the Courts of Equity, at their discretion, compelled the party to a contract to perform his/her part of the contract when damages recoverable at law were not an adequate remedy. The Specific Relief Act, 1963 ("the Act") embodied this equitable...

Condonation Of Delay Application Not Required For Filing Delayed Police Charge-Sheet Before Court: Explained

There is a practice of seeking application for condonation of delay from Investigating Officers for filing police charge-sheet before Courts after the prescribed period of limitation provided under Section 468 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (in short "Cr.PC"). The said application is filed by the Investigating Officers/ Station House Officers under Section 473 of Cr.PC to explain the delay in filing police charge-sheet before Courts, citing transfer of the initial Investigating...

Making Of Will Yourself

The most certain thing in one's life comes at the very end of it - the certain call, the death. But life still goes on and beyond. And the dead lives among the alive in their memories that he leaves behind besides other things. There cannot be a dispute regarding the fond memories, for they can be shared without dispute but the 'other material things' most of the time become a bone of bitter contention. This is where enters the Will. Will is a legal document containing the desire of the...

Understanding 'Use Of Force', In Context Of Ukraine-Russia

In its public hearing the International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently indicated that Russia must immediately halt the military operations against Ukraine while expressing profound concern, about Moscow's use of force in violation of international law. The judges voted 13-2 in favour of this. Previously, when the ICJ had updated its website, to include the submission it received from the Russian Federation. Inter alia one of Russia's major arguments is that the Court lacks jurisdiction...

In The Name Of TRIPS Waiver

In October 2020, India and South Africa submitted a proposal to the TRIPS Council, WTO, to waive certain obligations under the TRIPS Agreement. The adoption of this waiver would lead to temporarily suspend certain obligations to protect intellectual property (IP) and its enforcement as mandated by the TRIPS Agreement. This waiver was seen as a need of the hour to overcome the IP barriers to scale up the production of vaccines and other medical products to effectively combat COVID19...

Reduction Of Capital: A Domestic Affair?

This blog intends to analyze the stand of the courts that reduction of capital by the companies is purely a domestic affair to the extent the shareholders get a fair price but whether in reality some intervention of the court is needed as getting a fair share is not the only concern, but the protection of the right of minorities too who are compelled to divest their lawful holdings. A reduction of capital occurs when a company reduces the amount of its share capital. A company may ...

The Conflict Between Ukraine And Russia & TRIPS

Every war has collateral damage. Creators of the many goods and services owned and distributed by the companies which have boycotted Russia are the collateral in this conflict. The conflict between Ukraine and Russia, among other things, provides an interesting insight into how workable copyright laws are. Some, especially those on the receiving end of the economic troubles, as a result, may go ahead and proclaim them to be 'soft'. In the wake of unprecedented economic sanctions, the...

Technical Conundrums In Stock Exchanges

Securities markets and securities laws in India have always been at the forefront of technological advancement as compared to other laws and markets present in India. From it's inception, securities markets have always embraced technology as part of it and securities laws have always been drafted keeping in my mind the incessantly changing technological landscape present in India. However, even after such technological advancements, the risk of break down or down time is almost...