Sansa Law Desk

On August 17, 2026, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla imposed costs of Rs 5 lakh on the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for misusing Section 33 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 in the case of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd v HCC Samsung JV. Section 33, which permits correction of clerical, typographical, and computational errors in arbitral awards, was deployed by DMRC to seek what the court de

On 27 May 2026, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) notified the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Amendment Rules, 2026, opening a new channel for CSR expenditure. Companies subject to mandatory CSR under Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 can now route a portion of their CSR funds through the Social Stock Exchange (SSE) by subscribing to zero coupon zero principal (ZCZP) instruments issued by registered not-for-profit organizations (NPOs). This guid

India's stock market education industry has expanded rapidly, with numerous platforms selling paid courses on technical analysis, options trading, and market strategies. Many operators have assumed that labelling content as "educational" places them outside SEBI's regulatory perimeter. Enforcement orders issued in late 2024 and 2025 have decisively challenged that assumption. SEBI has established that if a course delivers buy or sell recommendations, price targets, or trading

The Bombay High Court has ruled that the May 2026 amendment to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), which removed the automatic interim moratorium for personal guarantors of corporate debtors, applies to insolvency applications that were already pending when the amendment took effect. The decision clears the path for creditors to continue parallel recovery proceedings against personal guarantors even while insolvency applications filed under Section 95 of the IBC r

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Principal Bench at New Delhi, has struck down a condition inserted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) into a resolution plan approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) for a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) corporate debtor. The condition in question required 5 percent of the corporate debtor's equity to be reserved for public shareholders, a term that had no basis in the resolution plan as approved by t

Introduction Payment Aggregators (PAs) play a central role in India's digital payments ecosystem by enabling merchants to accept online, physical, and cross-border payments without establishing direct relationships with banks and payment networks. Under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007 (PSS Act), no entity other than the Reserve Bank of India may operate a payment system without authorisation. The RBI first issued comprehensive PA guidelines in March 2020, followed

The Delhi High Court, in T-Mobile International AG and Co. KG v. The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks [C.A.(COMM.IPD-PAT) 149/2022, 2026:DHC:6266], has laid down a structured seven-step framework for patent examiners to evaluate whether a patent claim is excluded as "a mere scheme or rule or method of performing mental act" under Section 3(m) of the Patents Act, 1970. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, sitting as a Single Bench, delivered the order on August 4, 2

Introduction Restrictive covenants in employment contracts, including non-compete clauses, non-solicitation obligations, confidentiality undertakings, and garden leave provisions, are among the most litigated areas of Indian employment law. The primary challenge for employers is Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, which declares that "every agreement by which anyone is restrained from exercising a lawful profession, trade or business of any kind, is to that extent vo

Introduction In M&A transactions, the buyer and the seller frequently disagree on valuation. The buyer values the target based on current performance and verified financials, while the seller prices the business based on projected growth and future potential. An earn-out clause bridges this gap by making a portion of the purchase consideration contingent upon the target achieving agreed performance milestones after the closing date. In India, earn-out provisions have become i

In A.K. Ghosh and Company and Others v. Biman Bose and Others (2026 INSC 684), decided on July 13, 2026, the Supreme Court of India held that a plaintiff in a commercial suit governed by the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 must file a written statement in response to a defendant's counter-claim within the mandatory 120-day outer limit prescribed under the proviso to Order VIII Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC). A Bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K

Introduction The Mediation Act 2023 (Act No. 32 of 2023), which received presidential assent on 14 September 2023, represents India’s first standalone legislation dedicated to mediation as a dispute resolution mechanism. With certain provisions notified on 9 October 2023, the Act creates a structured framework for pre-litigation and court-referred mediation, establishes the Mediation Council of India, and gives mediated settlement agreements the force of a court decree. For b

Introduction The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 ("SEBI LODR") form the backbone of corporate governance and disclosure obligations for all listed entities in India. Compliance with these regulations is not optional; missing a single filing deadline can attract penalties of Rs. 5,000 per day, show-cause notices from stock exchanges, and in severe cases, trading suspension of the company's securities. T

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Principal Bench at Delhi, in Rajesh Mehru v. Punjab National Bank & Rajeesh Gupta [Company Appeal (AT) (Insolvency) 530/2026, 2026 LLBiz NCLAT 312], has ruled that the adjudicating authority cannot appoint a liquidator without considering the Committee of Creditors' (CoC) unanimous recommendation under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). A bench comprising Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma (Judicial Member) and Techni

The Bombay High Court, in a judgment dated 18 June 2026, has reaffirmed that the right of homebuyers to claim interest for delayed possession under Section 18 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) is independent, indefeasible, and absolute. In CCI Projects Private Limited v. Allottees (Second Appeal), Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh held that this statutory right cannot be curtailed by the provisions of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, and that RERA, bei

On July 24, 2026, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) released a comprehensively revised Guidance Note on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). Issued by the Ministry of Finance's Foreign Tax and Tax Research Division, the revised Guidance Note aligns the reporting framework for financial institutions with section 508 of the Income Tax Act, 2025, Rules 238 to 240, and Form 166 of the Income Tax Rules, 2026. The document i