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Arbitration in India

With the rapid globalization of the economy and the resulting increase in competition there has been a significant increase in commercial disputes. The outpaced rate of development has led to increase in industrial growth, modernization, improved socio-economic circumstances, technological development which in turn has led to an increase in case overloads for the already overburdened courts. Development and disputes are two sides of the same coin, which means that the alarming rate of development has its snag, which is the increasing number of the disputes in various sectors. The multiplying of outstanding cases in the courts, exorbitant delays in the administration of justice and expenses of litigation have continued to plague people thereby undermining their faith in the justice system. The issue at hand is to examine and choose a right formal legal system, such as Alternative Dispute Resolution procedures. India has a standing as being one of the oldest in the history of the

The Wait for Justice in Litigation

Wait for justice in India can be agonisingly long as the first tier of the country’s justice administration system, district courts, is burdened with over 30 million pending cases and this number is increasing. More than two thirds of the pending suits are criminal cases, showing a lack of effective prosecution and early disposal. Large number of pendency of criminal cases are worrisome for two reasons. Firstly, it denies the access to justice to a large number of victims of crime. Secondly, because of slow progress of the criminal cases, a large number of undertrial prisoners continue to languish in jails, sometimes, they end up spending more time in jail as undertrials than the prescribed term of imprisonment for the crime they have been accused of committing. In September 2018, just before taking the charge, Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi had expressed concern over the huge pendency of court cases while addressing a group of young lawyers. “Two things are troubl

Running a Business can be Stressful

Running a business in India can be extremely stressful and challenging. In fact, a study on entrepreneurial well- being by ASCENT Foundation and Mariwala Health Initiative recently found that nearly 8% of younger entrepreneurs and 6% of older entrepreneurs who are in family-owned businesses have had suicidal thoughts. Majority of the study participants said they experienced anxiety, confusion, irritability and frustration sometimes during their entrepreneurial journey.  The study, which received response from 186 entrepreneurs (of family run businesses and new age entrepreneurs) from the ASCENT cohort, between the age group of 20 to 60 years, showed that stress due to financial cash flows, fear of failure and disagreements with partners or family members are the top stressors, irrespective of their age and years in business . Add to this the cumbersome documentation and paperwork to be taken care of at every step of the process. All these hurdles function as impediments for ent

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code

In India, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 is one matured step towards settling the legal position with respect to financial failures and insolvency. To provide easy exit with a painless mechanism in cases of insolvency of individuals as well as companies, the code has significant value for all stakeholders including various Government Regulators. Introduction of this Code has done away with overlapping provisions contained in various laws – Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act 1985, The Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act 1993, The Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act 2002, and The Companies Act, 2013. Before the enactment of this Code, there were multiple agencies dealing with the matters relating to debt, defaults, and insolvency which generally leads to delays, complexities and higher costs in the process of Insolvency resolution. The ‘Board for Industrial and Financial R

Hopes High for Investment Lawyers 

India has jumped 14 places to rank 63rd out of 190 countries in the World Bank's Doing Business 2020 report on account of significant improvement in resolving insolvency and obtaining construction permits. This is a major development, considering the fact that the government has been focusing on targeting to take India among the top 50 in the ease of doing business ranking. Explaining that the government was working on policies to promote inflows from domestic as well as foreign sources to achieve this vision, the PM stressed that the "policies are not designed to get some short-term benefit out of transient disruptions" being seen around the world. Instead, the government is focused on improving India's competitiveness through long-term reform measures such as steps towards improving the ease of doing business rankings, tax reforms with lowering of tax rates and simplifying procedures, labor sector reforms to encourage formalization and FD

Real Estate Legal Practice is Lucrative, Here’s Why

The real estate industry has been one of the most prominent pillars of the Indian economy. With a contribution of close to 6-8% to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it stands second in terms of employment generation. The sector has been at the cusp of transformation with policy changes, fall-out of funding agencies and their subsequent cautiousness towards residential projects, developers experimenting with new sectors and offerings, etc.  According to data released by the India Brand Equity Foundation, which is a government trust, by 2025, the country’s real estate sector is expected to contribute 13 per cent of the country’s GDP. By 2030, it is expected to reach US$ 1 trillion. Without relying on any more numbers, it would suffice to say that lawyers feed off such a healthy industry and a lavish five-course meal sort of feed off, at that. As regards the changes brought in by the Real Estate Regulation Act, the long-term prospects of these changes

NRIs don’t need to Worry about their Legal Woes

The constraints of expatriate life make it challenging for a lot of Non-residential Indians (NRIs) to deal with situations, which are beyond their reach and control. One such situation is of course the handling of legal proceedings.  The legal ecosystem in India can discourage even those living in the country, considering the pendency and the hassles-- the delays, the appearances, the bureaucracy, the hearings, the adjournments, and the corruption. All this along with the constraints of non-residents having to travel back and forth to India and limitations of resources or time requires special legal assistance especially crafted for NRIs. And more so because legal cases involving NRIs may require engagement with multiple areas of law and dealing with the Indian authorities. For instance, they need advice on a hoard of subjects, ranging from investments, to regulatory and compliance, real estate acquisition and documentation, and dispute resolution.  NRIs should be able to get r