On May 02, 2022, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India passed its judgement in a matter titled Jacob Puliyel v. Union of India & Ors[1], wherein it closely examined the details of the vaccination policy, the dissemination of clinical trials data, veracity of emergency approvals of vaccines and the reporting of adverse impacts of vaccination.Continue Reading Coercive Vaccination! Explaining the Jacob Puliyel v. Union of India case
In the matter of Amar Nath v. Gian Chand & Ors.[1], an appeal was filed in the Apex Court against a High Court order holding that production of a true copy of Power of Attorney (“POA”) was essential for the execution of a sale deed under Section 18 of the Registration Act, 1908 (“Act”).Continue Reading Validity of a Power of Attorney – A Registration Act Perspective
The Supreme Court of India in Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. v. M/s. Shree Ganesh Petroleum Rajgurunagar,[1] recently ruled that an award enhancing the rent payable under a separate agreement was liable to be set aside under Section 34(2)(a)(iv) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Arbitration Act”), on the basis that the award was based on a dispute beyond the scope of submission to arbitration. The theme of what would be within the province of a tribunal or otherwise has often been the subject matter of challenges. For example, in Satyanarayana Construction Company v. Union of India & Others[2], the Supreme Court ruled that if the underlying contract fixed a rate of interest, an arbitrator could not rewrite its terms and award a higher rate.Continue Reading Indian Oil Corporation v. Shree Ganesh Petroleum: An arbitral tribunal’s powers to do justice are circumscribed by contract
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in second half of 2021, released a series of notifications for reforming the telecom sector and bringing much-needed reforms. These notifications were compiled in a booklet titled “Telecom Reforms 2021” and released by the DoT (“Reforms”). The Reforms span over different areas of telecom regulations including: Know Your Customer (“KYC”) Norms, amending the definition Adjusted Gross Revenue (“AGR”), a percentage of which is the license fee, Foreign Direct Investment (“FDI”), Bank Guarantees, Customer Application Forms (“CAF”), sharing and assignment of spectrum, Standing Advisory Committee on Frequency Allocation (“SACFA”) clearance, Import of Wireless Equipment and liquidity requirements of Telecom Service Providers (“TSP”). In this blog, we provide an overview of the Reforms and present a brief overall analysis of the same.Continue Reading Telecom Reforms & the way forward
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recently recommended the unbundling of layers of telecom services through a system of differential licensing. The recommendations aim to “catalyse Investments and Innovation and promote Ease of Doing Business”. While the said recommendations have been welcomed by a cross-section of stakeholders, concerns were raised regarding the application of license fee as a percentage of the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) at different levels. Even though the recommendations of the TRAI are not binding on the licensor (Department of Telecommunications (DoT)), they represent a significant shift in TRAI’s approach to the issuance of licenses in the telecom sector and possibly attracting new service providers.Continue Reading The TRAI’s Recommendations on Unbundling Licenses
Mutation is a process of changing/updating the title/ownership in the local land revenue/municipal records, which is essential for assessment of the new owner’s tax liabilities.
The Apex Court in Sawarni v. Inder Kaur and Ors.[1] set aside the orders passed by the (i) High Court dismissing the second appeal and (ii) Additional District Judge and held that “Mutation of a property in the revenue record does not create or extinguish title nor has it any presumptive value on title. It only enables the person in whose favour mutation is ordered to pay the land revenue in question.” The order recorded that the Additional District Judge has erroneously concluded that mutation in favour of Inder Kaur (respondent) conveys title to the property in her favour, thus giving rise to conflict. The Apex Court further noted that the lower appellate court did not reach any positive findings on the title of the respondent to the property and was swayed away with the mutation in the revenue record reflecting the name of the respondent.
Continue Reading Title in immovable property cannot be bestowed on basis of mutation entries
Monetisation of assets has been identified as one of the pillars for enhanced and sustainable infrastructure financing. The Finance Minister of India (“FM”) had, in December 2019, announced a National Infrastructure Pipeline (“NIP”) that envisages an investment of INR 111 lakh crore in the infrastructure sector in the period between 2019 and 2025 and brings in various opportunities for private sector to invest in infrastructure projects including the development and operation of the same. The FM in the annual budget 2021-2022 announced the launch of a new national monetisation pipeline[1] to bridge the gaps in infrastructure funding projects under the NIP and to unlock value from the current public investment in infrastructure through private sector efficiencies in operations and management of infrastructure. The NITI Aayog has now created the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP Volumes I & II) (“NMP”) in respect of the brownfield core infrastructure assets. The NMP is in furtherance of the Government of India’s (“Government”) strategic divestment policy, which aims to limit Government’s presence to only a select identified sectors with the rest to be handed to private players.Continue Reading National Monetisation Pipeline – Fueling Economic Growth
Coinciding with the demonetisation of currencies by the Government of India in 2016, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988, was substantially amended and renamed as the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 (“Benami Act”). The Benami Act was brought into effect from November 01, 2016. It was a well-timed move to ensure that demonetisation doesn’t become a futile exercise.Continue Reading Declarations of beneficial interest under the Companies Act vis-à-vis the Benami Act: No immunity and no “Ganga Snan”!
Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA), vide Circular No. 11/2017 dated November 8, 2017, bearing reference no. MahaRERA/Secy/File No.27 / 491 /2017, prescribed procedure for transferring or assigning promoter’s rights and liabilities to a third party. The circular delineated the procedure in accordance with Section 15 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (“Act”), which states that, “the promoter shall not transfer or assign his majority rights and liabilities in respect of a real estate project to a third party without obtaining prior written consent from two-third allottees, except the promoter, and without the prior written approval of the Authority”.
Continue Reading MahaRERA: Update on procedure for transferring or assigning promoter’s rights and liabilities to a third party was laid down
Rights issue, as the term denotes, is the recognition of an inherent right of an equity shareholder against dilution of his shareholding in the company. It is a pre-emptive right of the equity shareholder to subscribe to his proportionate share in all further issuance of equity shares.Continue Reading Rights Issue – Is the Board’s Discretion to Allot Unsubscribed Shares Absolute?