articles
International Trade & WTO
EU trade defence instruments at a deadlock?
07 June 2016
The recent developments in the global steel crisis and the distinct features of the European Union (hereinafter the ‘EU’) have underlined the challenges currently faced by the EU trade policy.
Mergers & Acquisitions / PE
Amalgamation – Distinction between an instrument and instrument amounting to conveyance
31 May 2016
In its recent judgment in Chief Controlling Revenue Authority v. Reliance Industries Ltd., Bombay High Court has taken the view that stamp duty is payable on a High Court (‘HC’) order sanctioning a scheme of merger/reconstruction (‘scheme’), as an instrument of ‘conveyance’.
Direct Tax
India-Mauritius Treaty – The long awaited overhaul and its underlying consequences
26 May 2016
The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (‘DTAA’) entered into by India with Mauritius on 24th August, 1982 and made effective from 1st April, 1983 was the first of its kind wherein the right to tax the capital gains arising to a resident of Mauritius from transfer of shares of an Indian company was
Intellectual Property Rights
Ambiguous standard for examination of CRIs
19 May 2016
The Indian Patent Office had issued the modified guidelines for examination of Computer Related Invention (CRI) [see end note 1] on 19 Feb 2016.
Demand of interest due to price revision – An analysis
16 May 2016
The present-day commercial landscape involves a variety of transactions which are structured in various manners.
International Trade & WTO
China: NME or ME?
10 May 2016
Recent WTO discussions have centered on the question of China’s entitlement to Market Economy status (MES) post 11 December, 2016.
Securities Laws
SEBI’s Bright Line Tests for ‘Control’ - An Analysis
26 April 2016
The idea of corporate control has been subject to a longstanding debate in India and elsewhere. A fluid concept such as ‘control’ is a term of wide connotation and, by its very nature, is not amenable to any precise standard definition of general application.
Intellectual Property Rights
Product by process claims - A perspective
20 April 2016
<em>By</em> <strong>Sribindhu Chivukala & Archana V</strong><br /> <br /> <strong><em>Introduction</em></strong><br /> <br /> Section 2(j) of the Patents Act, 1970 (the Act) defines an invention as a new product or a process involving an inventive step and capable of industrial application
Direct Tax
The Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 - An analysis
18 April 2016
Last year, the Indian Government introduced a scheme for voluntary declaration of undisclosed foreign income and assets for resident taxpayers under the Black Money Act.
Customs
‘Ease of doing business’ – A look at certain key Customs rulings
12 April 2016
‘Ease of doing business’ is the buzz-word at present and with the Indian Union Cabinet going ahead with the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, it seems that conditions for doing business in India are bound to improve with significant cut in number of forms, declarations and permissions.
Refund – No recovery through SCN without review of refund order
12 April 2016
The Madras High Court in the case of Eveready Industries India Ltd. v. CESTAT, Chennai [2016-TIOL-676-Mad-CX] has held that refund granted by an authority cannot be denied by way of issuance of Show Cause Notice (SCN) in cases where the order has not been subject to review.
International Trade & WTO
Monitoring of steel imports in USA – Consistency under WTO Laws
05 April 2016
The United States maintains a licensing mechanism known as the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (hereinafter referred to as the ‘SIMA’) System. As per the system, any business importing steel mill products covered under the licensing program is required to procure a license.
Direct Tax
Underreporting and misreporting of income - Proposed penalty regime
23 March 2016
With the Finance Bill 2016, the penalty regime in income-tax law is proposed to undergo a major overhaul. Earlier system provided for a levy of penalty, for concealment of income or furnishing inaccurate particulars of income, of an amount between 100% to 300% of the tax sought to be evaded.
Union Budget, 2016 – An analysis of certain changes in Central Excise
19 March 2016
The last two Budgets were witness to the Government trying to put a quietus to the storm generated over retrospective taxation and to increase tax compliance through certain amendments to law and procedures.
TN VAT Act – A look at the recent amendments
19 March 2016
The Government of Tamil Nadu has brought out certain amendments to the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act 2006 (‘the Act’) and the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Rules, 2007 (‘the Rules’), with effect from 29th January, 2016 [see end note 1].
Intellectual Property Rights
Stay of proceedings in an infringement suit and challenging validity of a registered trademark
17 March 2016
A Full bench (Three Judges) of the Delhi High Court recently held that prior permission of the Court is not necessary under Section 124(1)(b)(ii) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 (TMA) for filing a rectification petition before the IPAB during the pendency of an infringement suit.
Regulatory Laws
Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, 2015 – A Comment
17 March 2016
The justice delivery system of our country can be excruciatingly slow. In commercial disputes, time is of the essence and delays can derail the entire remedy and relief and undermines business confidence in Indians as well as those interested in investing in India.
International Trade & WTO
RTI Act & disclosure of information in anti-dumping investigations
11 March 2016
Access to information is a cornerstone in any administrative or quasi-judicial proceeding and non-availability of the relied upon documents to the affected parties have been condemned for long by the highest Court of this country.
Direct Tax
Artificial computation provisions – Unintended cross roads with anti-avoidance rules
27 February 2016
In the law of Income-tax, the main principles are fairly simple – the whole difficulty arise in their application. The first question, what is income, is a dark cat in the bag of the income-tax code [See End Note 1].