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IFSCA Enables Differential Distributions: Venture Capital Schemes And Restricted Schemes May Issue Senior And Junior Unit Classes

Summary: The IFSCA has introduced a new framework allowing Venture Capital Schemes and Restricted Schemes in GIFT IFSC to issue senior and junior (or subordinate) unit classes with differential distribution rights, facilitating blended finance structures that combine concessional and commercial capital. The framework also prescribes minimum ticket sizes for junior unit holders, enhanced PPM disclosure requirements, and safeguards against evergreening and regulatory circumvention, while easing conditions for ESG Schemes to accept grants. The framework marks a significant shift from the investor-category restrictions applicable under the domestic AIF regime, providing fund managers greater flexibility to structure funds for investors with different risk appetites.

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When The Cover Gets Judged: Unboxing Cosmetics Packaging Obligations

Summary: Cosmetics packaging sits across overlapping regimes, spanning labelling accuracy, plastic waste management, and product-specific rules of their own. A single product may touch all three frameworks at once, raising issues from registration requirements to mislabelling liability to repercussions for missed EPR targets. The real challenge, however, lies in reliably seeing where they all converge on the same pack.

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Summary: Over the past 25 years, India’s economic law-making has shifted decisively from Parliament to regulators, with statutes such as the Companies Act, 2013 and the SEBI Act, 1992 supplying only a bare framework while the operative detail is filled in through rules, regulations, and circulars. Clause 147 of the Securities Markets Code, 2025 seeks to discipline this shift by embedding a structured, consultative, ex-ante process into SEBI’s rule-making power, coupling it to regulatory impact assessment and continuing proportionality review obligations elsewhere in the Code. This piece argues that the template Clause 147 establishes should not remain confined to securities law and should be extended to all other economic statutes which lack equivalent safeguards and would benefit from the same five-element architecture of pre-publication consultation, impact assessment, sunset review, and internal vires-certification.

Continue Reading Guarding the Guardians: Building Statutory Discipline into India’s Delegated Legislation
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Summary: With the India–EU FTA proceeding towards finalisation, both economies now have an opportunity to prepare for sweeping tariff cuts, new market access, and revised compliance obligations before the agreement is finally concluded. The blog sets out the key provisions of the FTA, particularly those related to the automotive, agri-food, financial services, and IP-sensitive sectors, so that businesses can start reviewing supply chains, contracts, and market-entry strategies.

Continue Reading The India–EU Free Trade Agreement: A Landmark Deal Moves Toward Finalisation
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Summary: Indian corporate governance law pulls independent directors in two directions. Schedule IV to the Companies Act, 2013, requires them to keep out of day-to-day management. At the same time, a recent line of orders from SEBI and the Securities Appellate Tribunal demands closer diligence from independent directors on audit committees. The boundary between the two, the Lakshman Rekha, turns not on how much an independent director engages but on the channel and character of that engagement. Diligence is about the quality of oversight. Overreach begins the moment an independent director substitutes their own judgement for management’s in executing a decision. A related difficulty concerns independent directors who serve as managing directors elsewhere and carry their executive instincts into boardrooms where they are meant to oversee only. The shift from an executive to a non-executive mindset usually takes years, and that lag is a complication Boards cannot afford to ignore.

Continue Reading The Lakshman Rekha for Independent Directors: Board Oversight versus Operational Overreach
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The Classroom Is Not Exempt: DPDPA Compliance for Educational Institutions

Summary: The blog provides a summary of the Supreme Court’s recent judgment in Abhishek Baxi v. Union of India, where parents challenged the extensive and compulsory nature of collecting and retaining student information for the purpose of generation of Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (“APAAR”) ID. Among other findings, the Supreme Court emphasised that consent must be meaningful and informed. It also acknowledged the need for data protection at the time of collection and processing data, in light of the Digital Personal Data Protection (“DPDP”) laws, reinforcing the need for educational institutions to ensure compliance.

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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The Rise of Personalised Cosmetics Regimens in India

Summary: With artificial intelligence increasingly driving the personalisation of skincare and beauty products in India, businesses operating at this intersection must navigate a complex and evolving regulatory landscape. This post examines the key legal considerations that arise when AI is used to design customised cosmetic regimens. It explores the classification risk where AI-driven analysis and tailored recommendations risk crossing the line from cosmetics into drugs or even software as a medical device. It then considers the interplay between product and service liability under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, particularly where harm results not from a defective product per se, but from an AI algorithm’s failure to account for individual user characteristics.

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Summary: Whole genome sequencing has rapidly transitioned from a research tool to a routine diagnostic offering in India, now available through accredited laboratory chains and direct-to-consumer testing kits alike. Yet India lacks a single, dedicated law governing genomic testing; instead, existing frameworks for laboratory accreditation, clinical establishments, and medical devices reach WGS only incidentally, leaving significant gaps around informed consent, genetic counselling, and long-term data protection. A comparative look at the United Kingdom and the United States reveals more structured, albeit still evolving, approaches to regulating genetic diagnostics and consumer genomics. This blog examines the current Indian regulatory patchwork and makes the case for a purpose-built governance framework that addresses the unique, far-reaching implications of genomic information.

Continue Reading Decoding the Genome, Encoding the Law: Whole Genome Sequencing in Healthcare
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Dematerialisation for Foreign Shareholders: A Regulatory Gap Hiding in Plain Sight

Summary: Private companies in India are required to dematerialise their securities, but the existing demat onboarding process appears to be designed for Indian shareholders only. There is no proper onboarding guidance for foreign body corporates, leaving registrars and share transfer agents (“RTAs”) and depository participants to devise their own, often inconsistent, documentation standards and processes. The result is unnecessary delays, extended timelines, and avoidable uncertainty in cross-border transactions.

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Purpose is No Defence: Supreme Court’s ruling and the Roadmap for Insider Trading Compliance

Summary: By affirming that insider-trading liability under the 2015 PIT Regulations turns on possession of information and not the purpose behind the trade, the Court has shut the door on ‘legitimate reason’ defences that SAT and earlier precedents had left ajar. Designated persons, compliance officers, listed companies and sponsors must now carefully navigate next steps to avoid breaches and regulatory scrutiny.

Continue Reading Purpose is No Defence: Supreme Court’s ruling and the Roadmap for Insider Trading Compliance