1. Product Liability under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019: An Overview
By Bishwajit Dubey, Surabhi Khattar & Ashutosh Singh
‘Product Liability’ has been defined for the first time under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (“2019 Act”). As per the 2019 Act, product liability means the responsibility of a product manufacturer or product seller, or product service provider, to compensate for any harm caused to a consumer by a defective product manufactured or sold or by deficiency in services in relation to the product.
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2. Bail or Jail – The Supreme Court clarifies the law and lays down the guidelines
By Bharat Vasani, Ankoosh Mehta, Srinivas Chatti & Darshan Patankar
The Supreme Court of India has in its recent landmark judgment in Satender Kumar Antil laid down guidelines on the grant of bail to an accused and while doing so, it has reiterated aspects of personal liberty and constitutional guarantees available to an accused under criminal jurisprudence. The Court observed that while its discussion and findings are meant to operate as guidelines, each case pertaining to a bail application is to be decided on its own merits. This article seeks to analyse these guidelines and evaluate their consequences and operation in practice.
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3. No Occupancy Certificate: No Maintenance Charges
By Taher D Mandviwala, Sana Ahmed & Shalini Singh
An Occupancy Certificate (“OC”) is a document that is issued by a local government agency or planning authority, upon completion of construction of a new project. The certificate is proof that the project has been built, by adhering to applicable building codes, relevant regulations, and laws. It is the responsibility of the developer to obtain an occupancy certificate once the project has been completed. The certificate is an indication that the building is suitable for occupancy.
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4. Can the admin of a WhatsApp group be held vicariously liable for an objectionable post by a group member?
By Kapil Arora & Juvraj Singh
The modern genesis of vicariously attributing culpability to a creator or administrator of a WhatsApp group for offensive, defamatory or objectionable content posted by a group member can be found in the recent decision of the High Court of Kerala on February 23, 2022, in the matter of Manual versus State of Kerala and another. The High Court of Kerala has largely followed the bright line laid down by the High Court of Bombay, the High Court of Delhi and the High Court of Madras in their previous decisions on this subject.
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5. New ODI Regime: What RBI needs to clarify?
By Bharat Vasani, Varun Kannan & Vanya Agarwal
The Ministry of Finance (“MoF”) and Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) notified the new overseas investment (“OI”) regime on August 22, 2022 (“New Regime”).
The New Regime inter alia comprises the OI Rules, 2022 notified by the MoF (“Rules”), the OI Regulations, 2022 notified by the RBI and the Master Directions issued by the RBI to authorised persons. It supersedes FEMA 120 and the circulars and directions issued thereunder (“Old Regime”).
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6. Moonlighting – Legal Considerations and Contractual Regulation
By Bishen Jeswant & Varsha Sriram
Moonlighting is the colloquial term used to refer to the practice of employees working a second job, in addition to their primary job. The last few weeks saw myriad news reports on this practice in start-ups and the IT/ITES industry. Most companies have released statements opposing the practice and some have even taken action against moonlighting employees. Some companies have, however, indicated that they are open to allowing employees to moonlight within a defined framework.
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7. RBI’s proposed regulatory architecture for the ODI Regime – Does it meet India Inc’s expectations?
By Bharat Vasani, Varun Kannan & Riya Sharma
Outbound investments in India have witnessed a significant decline from its peak in the golden period of 2005-08. As per the data collated by the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”), in July 2011, the total outbound financial commitment was at USD 5,478.15 million. This figure has declined over the decade to USD 2,047.79 million in December 2021.
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8. The Cert-In Cyber Security Directions: More Questions Than Answers?
By Arun Prabhu & Arpita Sengupta
On April 28, 2022, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (“CERT-In”) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued extensive directions to service providers, intermediaries, companies, firms, and government organisations (collectively, “Entities”, and each an “Entity”) specifying various ‘cyber security directions’ that they are required to follow (“Directions”)
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9. Enforcement directorate under PMLA can no longer attach assets once liquidation process has been initiated under IBC
By Ankoosh Mehta, Bishwajit Dubey, Monark Gahlot, Kriti Srivastava & Shubhangi Agarwal
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”), an umbrella legislation, has successfully envisaged the process of speedy resolution or liquidation of a corporate entity and has proved to be a milestone in the Indian legal framework. By bringing IBC in force, the legislature has sought to maximise the value of the assets of the debtor, and to adopt a fair and transparent procedure for the disposition of the assets while balancing the interests of all stakeholders.
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10. Update on Indian Merger Control Regime: The Small Target Exemption and pitfalls around jurisdictional thresholds for merger filings before the CCI
By Avaantika Kakkar, Vijay Pratap Singh Chauhan, Kirthi Srinivas & Dhruv Rajain
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“MCA”) has extended the suspension of the 30-day deadline for merger filings
India’s competition regime is mandatory and suspensory. A transaction cannot be completed (in whole or in part) unless the Indian competition regulator grants its approval.
The Competition Act, 2002 (the “Act”) requires that a transaction be notified to the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) within 30 days of the trigger event (such as the execution of binding agreements). But this requirement was suspended for five years through a circular dated June 29, 2017.