Sansa Law Desk

India's four consolidated Labour Codes, which subsume and replace 29 legacy labour laws, have introduced significant changes to the regulation of working hours, overtime, and the definition of employees and commercial establishments. The Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2020 (OSH Code) and the Code on Social Security, 2020 (SS Code), read with their respective draft rules notified by various State Governments in 2025 and 2026, increase the maximum d

The Reserve Bank of India has introduced significant changes to the reporting framework for the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), effective from 1 January 2026. Under the revised framework, Authorised Dealer Category-II (AD Cat-II) banks and full-fledged money changers (FFMCs) are now required to file LRS transaction details directly on the Centralised Information Management System (CIMS), the RBI's next-generation data reporting platform that replaces the older XBRL-based

The Supreme Court of India has strengthened the rights of convicted persons under Article 21 of the Constitution by holding that prolonged delay in hearing an appeal against conviction can, in appropriate cases, justify the suspension of sentence and grant of bail pending appeal. The 2026 ruling addresses a systemic problem in the Indian criminal justice system: appeals against conviction often take years or even decades to be heard, during which the convicted person remains

The Supreme Court of India has reinforced the principle that criminal proceedings cannot be quashed merely because a civil court has ruled in favour of the accused on a related issue. In a 2026 judgment, the Court restored a criminal trial in a family property dispute where the accused had sought to terminate the prosecution on the ground that a civil court had already upheld the validity of the disputed documents. The ruling reaffirms the well-established legal position that

In a landmark ruling delivered in 2026, the Supreme Court of India held that a Judicial Magistrate does not require prior sanction under Section 196 or Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 before directing the registration of a First Information Report under Section 156(3) CrPC (now Section 175(3), BNSS). The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta clarified that the requirement of prior sanction operates at the stage of taking cognizance and does not e

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) received Presidential assent on 11 August 2023, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 were notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on 13 November 2025. Unlike many Indian statutes that become effective on a single date, the DPDP framework is being rolled out in three distinct phases spread over eighteen months. Phase 1, effective from November 2025, establishes the Data

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified the Income Tax Rules, 2026, replacing the Income Tax Rules, 1962 that governed direct tax administration in India for over six decades. The new rules take effect from 1 April 2026 and apply to Tax Year 2026-27 onwards. This overhaul accompanies the Income Tax Act, 2025, which replaced the Income Tax Act, 1961 with the objective of providing a streamlined, simplified, and modern tax code. The 2026 Rules operationalise the n

The Reserve Bank of India has introduced two regulatory changes in 2026 that directly affect individual bank customers across the country. First, Video-based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP) has been pushed as a standard onboarding option, enabling customers to complete their Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements through a live video call without visiting a bank branch. Second, the RBI has tightened the rules on dormant and inactive accounts, with banks now empowered t

Air pollution enforcement in Delhi and the National Capital Region has entered a new phase with stricter implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), expanded powers of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), and significant penalties imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The 2025-2026 winter season saw the activation of GRAP Stage IV measures when Delhi's Air Quality Index crossed the 430 mark, and individual vehicle impoundment actions were ta

India International Disputes Week 2026, held from 7 to 11 March 2026 in Chandigarh, marked a significant milestone in India's effort to position itself as a credible destination for international commercial arbitration. The centrepiece of the event was the formal launch of the Chandigarh International Arbitration Centre (CIAC), adding a new institutional arbitration platform to India's growing dispute resolution infrastructure. The event brought together judges, arbitration p

In Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Ltd. v. B. Gurappa Naidu (2026 INSC 434), the Supreme Court of India delivered a firm restatement of the boundaries of High Court supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution. The bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Atul S. Chandurkar held that High Courts cannot use their supervisory powers to act as appellate courts, re-appreciate evidence, or substitute their own view for a plausible finding reached by a subo

The Securities and Exchange Board of India amended the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018 with effect from 16 March 2026. The ICDR Amendment Regulations 2026 address two critical areas of the IPO framework: the enforceability of lock-in provisions for pledged pre-issue shares, and the integration of a draft abridged prospectus into the IPO documentation process. These changes affect issuers, merchant bankers, depositories, and retail investo

In Nagreeka Indcon Products Ltd. v. Cargocare Logistics, the Supreme Court of India addressed a question that recurs frequently in commercial arbitration: does the word "can" in an arbitration clause create a binding obligation to arbitrate, or does it merely confer a permissive option? The Court held that "can" is not equivalent to "shall" and that a clause using permissive language does not constitute a mandatory arbitration agreement. This ruling has significant implicatio

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) released a draft notification on 8 April 2026 proposing the Companies (Incorporation) Amendment Rules, 2026, which would amend the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014. If finalized, these amendments would constitute the largest single reduction in incorporation-related paperwork since the Companies Act, 2013 came into force. The draft is open for public consultation through the MCA's e-consultation module, with a deadline of 9 May 202

On 15 January 2026, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) notified the Environmental (Protection) Fund Rules, 2026 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. These Rules create a dedicated, non-lapsable fund in the Public Account of India designed to channel money collected through environmental penalties into tangible ecological restoration and pollution control projects. The framework gives operational teeth to the polluter pays principle by ens