articles
Direct Tax
Jurisprudence of international tax law
28 August 2015
Taxation is a subject over which each State exercises its sovereign right. The basic charge of taxation can be traced to the domestic taxation law of a State.
Customs
Refund of excess customs duty paid under self-assessment system
19 August 2015
The Central Excise law provided for physical control for all commodities except a few in the past. However, subsequently self-assessment mechanism was introduced in Central Excise in which the revenue authorities’ role at the time of clearance of goods has become almost nil.
Intellectual Property Rights
‘Make in India’ meets the Biological Diversity Act
17 August 2015
‘Make in India’ is a flagship, nation-wide initiative of the Government of India launched in September 2014.
Corporate Advisory
Letter and Spirit of the Law
13 August 2015
The universal complaint against lawyers is that they have five different and contradictory interpretations of the same sentence, each fully justified. Some of our laws are centuries old and the language is so archaic that the original intent of the then legislature is obfuscated by time and
International Trade & WTO
Transparency and confidentiality in AD investigation proceedings
07 August 2015
Investigation process adopted by the Designated Authority in anti-dumping cases has recently been called into question before the Hon’ble Delhi High Court by the participating exporters.
Regulatory Laws
Engaging Contract Labour: The prerequisites and the pitfalls
03 August 2015
Companies engage contract labour to keep the head count low and for the scalability and flexibility it provides in management of workforce. Though employment of contract labour in India has attracted debates, it has become a significant and growing form of employment,
Direct Tax
Corporate Guarantee – Certainty in taxation not guaranteed!
27 July 2015
Affiliates of Multi National Enterprises (‘MNEs’), in the recent past, are moving more towards functioning independently from their parent, operational and financial.
Intellectual Property Rights
Separation of rights under copyright & design laws
22 July 2015
Under the Indian IP system, a clear distinction has been made between rights available under the Designs Act, 2000 (“the Designs Act”) and the Copyright Act, 1957 (“the Copyright Act”), to avoid any overlap in protection under the two Acts.
GST and centralized registration
15 July 2015
Much has been said about the introduction of levy of additional 1% tax proposed under clause 18 of the Constitutional (122nd Amendment) Bill 2014, (duly passed in Lok Sabha and which is now placed before a special committee, pending for approval by the Rajya Sabha, and subsequently by 50% of State
International Trade & WTO
Courting balance between investor and host state in ISDS
09 July 2015
The India’s model BIT (Bilateral Investment Treaty) was criticised as moving away from investor protection and being unreal.
Resale price maintenance in e-commerce – CCI initiates investigation
22 June 2015
The CCI has in 2014 initiated two investigations into the alleged imposition of minimum resale price maintenance (RPM). The first one was against Hyundai Motor India Ltd (‘Hyundai Case’) and I had written on the legal standard adopted by the Competition Commission of India to initiate investigations
Intellectual Property Rights
Comparative advertising - Acceptable competitive behaviour and law of disparagement
19 June 2015
Advertisement is the act of making a representation in any form in connection with a trade, business, craft or profession in order to promote the supply of goods or services [see end note 1].
Direct Tax
The Revenue Rule & International Taxation
18 June 2015
International law is generally considered as the law of the nations and therefore, the rules of international law have developed into a long standing custom that they are dutifully followed by the individual countries.
Goods and Services Tax, Regulatory Laws
Industrial/ Institutional Consumers – the argument continues
15 June 2015
By Shweta Kathuria The Department of Consumer Affairs (Legal Metrology Division) by notification dated 14-5-2015 amended the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 (“PC Rules”). The PC Rules were framed to sa
International Trade & WTO
Third party rights under WTO DSU – Ongoing reforms
08 June 2015
The WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) is a central element in providing security and predictability to the multilateral trading system created under the WTO.
Applicability of res judicata in tax matters
25 May 2015
<strong>B</strong><strong>y Amar Gahlot</strong><br /> <br /> <strong><em>Introduction</em></strong><br /> <br /> <em>Res Judicata</em> is the Latin term for "a matter (already) judged", or "a thing adjudicated". It means a case or suit already decided. It was recentl
Mergers & Acquisitions / PE, Regulatory Laws
Tackling Joint Ventures – Issues and Challenges
22 May 2015
The business rationale for a joint venture (JV) ranges from pure play financing of business operations to longer strategic partnerships for sharing of technical/business knowhow. To a large extent, the issues which need to be resolved between potential JV partners depend on the deal
Customs
Drawback of duties debited in freely transferable scrips issued under Chapter 3 of FTP
21 May 2015
The Central Government has recently introduced the new Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 (FTP) on with an aim to increase exports of merchandise and services from India from the current (F.Y. 2013-14) USD 465.9 billion to USD 900 billion by F.Y. 2019-20, and to raise India’s share in world exports from 2% to 3.5%.
International Trade & WTO
Time-limit in anti-dumping reviews in India – Rule 23 analyzed
21 May 2015
In the Indian context, the scheme of anti-dumping provisions under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (“the Act”) and the Anti-Dumping Rules (“AD Rules") [see end note 1] broadly divide the proceedings into two forms – original investigation and reviews.