articles
Goods and Services Tax
Reversal of credit on write-off under GST – Open issues
27 November 2018
By Nirav S. Karia & Nivedita Agarwal “Haste is of the devil” is a phrase that applies aptly to drafting of new legislations in haste which usually gives way to misinterpretation, lack of clarity, and challeng
Regulatory Laws
Virtual Currency: State of pandemonium continues
26 November 2018
By Neeraj Dubey In 2017, the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”), India’s central bank, published a “Working Group Report on FinTech and Digital Banking” that discussed the need to have a monitoring framework for new te
International Trade & WTO
Indonesia - Iron or Steel Safeguards: Metallurgic jurisprudence on definition of a "Safeguard Measure"
23 November 2018
By Bhargav Mansatta and Jayant Raghu Ram Introduction The Agreement on Safeguards (SGA) details the substantive and procedural provisions concerning the imposition of a safeguard measure. How
Intellectual Property Rights
Scope of Section 3(i): An analysis on diagnostic methods of treatment
21 November 2018
By Dr. Deepti Malhotra and Dr. Malathi Lakshmikumaran TRIPS and methods of treatment Patentability of methods of treatment is a contested subject mat
International Trade & WTO
Respite for Indian domestic industry: “Negative” final findings of Designated Authority appealable
24 October 2018
In an anti-dumping investigation, the Designated Authority may or may not recommend imposition of anti-dumping duties and where such recommendation is “positive”, the Ministry of Finance makes a policy decision regarding the same and issues customs notification where duty is to be imposed.
Goods and Services Tax
TDS under GST law – Certain issues
22 October 2018
Ever since Goods and Service Tax (GST) has been implemented, it has really kept the taxman as well as the implementers along with the taxpayers on their toes.
Insolvency
Supreme Court ruling in ArcelorMittal case – An analysis
12 October 2018
The Supreme Court on 4-10-2018 allowed yet another opportunity to mining major ArcelorMittal and Russia’s VTB Capital-backed NuMetal to bid for Essar Steel provided they clear their Non-Performing Asset (NPA) dues in two weeks. The bench comprising Justice R. F. Nariman and Justice Indu Malhotra, has also taken this opportunity to interpret and clarify Section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. However, the Essar saga is far from over.
Corporate Advisory, Regulatory Laws
Data Principal and Data Fiduciary in the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018
12 October 2018
The Chilean Constitution was amended on 16th June, 2018 to establish that protection of personal data is a constitutional right. Prior to this, other Latin American countries like Colombia, Mexico and Ecuador have already included the right to protection of personal data
Corporate Advisory, Insolvency
Cross Border Insolvency – An analysis of the draft chapter
12 October 2018
In the last few years, India’s banking sector has been fraught with an alarming number of non-performing assets. To this end, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code of 2016 (Code) strives to resolve the problem by allowing creditors to recover their dues and appropriately deal with loan defaulters. Akin to insolvency, its cross-border variant is one where the insolvent debtor has assets in more than one jurisdiction.
Intellectual Property Rights
Foreign filing license - Some issues
11 October 2018
Any person (inventor or applicant) who is an Indian resident, may wish to file a patent application (an application) in foreign countries due to various reasons, such as market potential, licensing opportunities, or other business policies. In such cases, the person may choose to either first file the application in India or obtain a foreign filing permission from the Indian Patent Office.
Intellectual Property Rights
White Paper on Data Protection and Privacy
11 October 2018
The Government of India constituted a Committee of Experts on July 31st, 2017 under the Chairmanship of former Supreme Court justice B.N. Srikrishna with the objective to identify and study the key issues relating to data protection in India and make specific suggestions on principles to be considered for data protection in India and suggest a draft Data Protection Bill.
Direct Tax
Amalgamation – Action in concert for tax benefit?
08 October 2018
The High Court of Gujarat observed in Wood Polymer [ See End Note 1] "and the court would not lend its assistance to defeat public interest, namely, tax provision.” A recent order of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) refusing to accord sanction to amalgamation scheme has raised certain interesting yet important questions.
Direct Tax, International Trade & WTO
Has the clock stopped ticking? India’s export subsidies under the SCM Agreement
18 September 2018
The United States has upped the ante in its efforts to – what it perceives – rebalance its trade dynamic with other countries. This has inevitably led to a trade war between the United States and other major economies, particularly China.
Goods and Services Tax
Preparing for GST Audit & Annual Returns
13 September 2018
Goods & Services Tax (GST) is a self-assessment and trust-based system of taxation wherein the registered person himself assesses and deposits his tax liability without any interference of tax officers. Due to such nature of the tax system, various types of audit mechanism have been incorporated to ensure compliance with the provisions by verifying the correctness of declared turnover, taxes paid, refunds claimed and tax credit availed.
Insolvency
Section 29A of IBC: Impact and Recent Developments
06 September 2018
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (‘Code’) aims for resolution of insolvency as opposed to liquidation. The law was framed with the intention to expedite and simplify the process of insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings in India ensuring fair negotiations between opposite parties and encouraging revival of the company by formulation of a resolution plan.
Arbitration
Pendency of objections to an arbitral award amounts to a dispute for the purposes of section 9 of IBC
06 September 2018
Supreme Court had an occasion to decide whether the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (‘IBC’) can be invoked in respect of an Operational Debt where an Arbitral Award has been passed in favour of the Operational Creditor in respect of such Operational Debt, but, the objections against the said Arbitral Award are pending under Section 34 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘A&C Act’).
Intellectual Property Rights
Standard Essential Patents - The Philips judgement & unanswered questions
28 August 2018
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Philips), being one of the first Standard Essential Patent holders to initiate SEP litigation in India, has secured a major victory in what is believed to be the first ever ‘post-trial’ judgment in an SEP litigation.
Direct Tax, International Trade & WTO
Anti-circumvention investigation concerning Glass Fibre: Resolving inconsistencies in practice and interpretation
27 August 2018
Circumvention of anti-dumping duty is one of the foremost challenges for investigating authorities. In spite of the absence of normative provisions concerning circumvention in the WTO’s Anti-Dumping Agreement, Member nations of the WTO have developed their own frameworks for dealing with anti-circumvention.
Direct Tax
Deemed Associated Enterprises - Interplay between Sections 92A(1) and 92A(2)
27 August 2018
Section 92 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (‘the Act’) provides that any income arising from an international transaction shall be computed, having regard to the arm’s length price.