[Raghav Bhatia is an Advocate practising at the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court. He may be contacted at raghavkbhatia@gmail.com] Recently, the Supreme Court, in Unibros v. All India Radio, has explained, inter alia, the requirements to succeed in a claim for loss of profits. This post argues that while the judgment is in the right direction, the Supreme Court may have missed an opportunity to discuss the law on loss of profits in greater detail. Background All India Radio (‘AIR’) entered into a contract with Unibros (‘the contractor’), whereby the contractor was “to carry out construction o ..read more

[Gautam Narayan and Asmita Singh are advocates practicing at the Supreme Court of India] In a departure from the principle that an arbitral tribunal becomes functus officio after having delivered the award, section 34(4) of the Indian Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Arbitration Act”) (which is based on article 34(4) of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, 1985 (“Model Law”)) enables a ‘party’ to request the court before which a challenge to the award has been instituted, to adjourn the proceedings so as to afford the tribunal to take such action which coul ..read more

[Palash Varyani is a 3rd-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at the Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad] India’s currency derivatives market is undergoing a profound transformation following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) recent directive, set to be enforced on May 3. Brokers are advising clients to square off rupee derivatives positions as the regulatory landscape undergoes a significant shift. The RBI’s stringent mandate necessitating an underlying exposure for currency trading lays out a fundamental reconfiguration of a market boasting daily volumes of $5 billion. This d ..read more

[Harit Gandhi and Mukund Arora are fourth-year law students at National Law School of India University, Bangalore and Symbiosis Law School, Pune, respectively] Recently, commitments in alternative investment funds (‘AIF’) crossed INR 10 trillion for the first time amid rising demand from high net-worth individuals. As of December 2023, the investment commitments amounted to INR 10.84 trillion, showing a quarterly increase of 13.6% and a yearly surge of over 40%. Currently, foreign investors play a dominant role in India’s AIF industry, with foreign investments constituting a significant portio ..read more

[Vaishnavi Srinivasan and Philip Oommen are lawyers based in Mumbai, and graduates of the National Institute of Securities Markets] In a pioneering move, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has established the Brokers Industry Standards Forum (BISF). Initially proposed in July 2023, the formation of the Industry Standards Forum by SEBI aims to establish regulatory standards, drawing on industry feedback and stakeholder consultation, for the effective implementation of regulations and circulars. This marks a significant step towards fostering collaboration, enh ..read more

[Srishti Multani and Aryan Birewar are 4th year BBA LLB (Hons.) students at Symbiosis Law School, Pune] On 27 March 2024, the Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI’) released a notification (‘Revised Notification’) relaxing certain directions given to regulated entities (‘RE’) in the notification (‘Previous Notification’) dated 19 December 2023 after due consultation with the stakeholders and industry experts. The carve-outs provided by RBI have cushioned and rationalized the compliances required to be met by the regulated lenders adopting the malpractice of evergreening of loans.  In the evergreen ..read more

[Mihir Vashishtha is a final year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi] With the rise of digitization in the capital market, there has been a notable surge in interaction between retail investors and the market, leading to increased investment activity. In turn, this increased digitization has incentivized market players to develop investment avenues customized for small-scale investors, breaking away from the traditional market model that predominantly served institutional investors. One notable aspect of these digitally influenced investment ..read more

[Karthika S. Babu is a third-year B.A. LL.B. Student at Gujarat National Law University] The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“Code”) provides for a specialized mechanism, i.e., the corporate insolvency resolution process (“CIRP”) for the resolution of insolvency of financially distressed entities. The CIRP aims to mitigate the claims of the affected creditors against the distressed corporate debtor by settling their financial claims through the framework provided by the resolution plan, which is approved by at least 66% of the committee of creditors (“CoC”). Although the Code confers pri ..read more

[Snigdha and Subhasish Pamegam are 3rd year B.A., LL.B. students at Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar] The practice of companies issuing restructured preference shares (RPS) in exchange for operational debt during the ‘twilight zone’, a period wherein a company is susceptible to becoming insolvent, is now seen as a controversial strategy. The order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in EPC v. Matix has unearthed certain critical issues faced by such RPS holders in the extant jurisprudence surrounding insolvency, which requires regulatory intervention on multiple levels, as ..read more

[Abhijnan Jha is a Partner and Urvashi Misra a Senior Associate at AZB & Partners, New Delhi] It is trite law that where a statute prescribes something to be done in a particular manner, then it ought to be done in that manner alone and not in any other manner. This is a well-recognized position, with courts having the duty to filter out any misguided attempts by litigants to bypass statutory mandates. Recently, however, the Calcutta High Court in Eastern Indian Motion Picture Association & Ors. v. Mr. Milan Bhowmik (“EIMPA”) took a slightly different approach. It allowed parties ..read more