Category: Corporate Disputes

Interventions in winding up: Not all interventions further the cause of justice

Corporate Disputes

In legal proceedings, ensuring justice is served fairly and promptly is crucial, especially in winding-up proceedings under the Companies Act, 2013 (Act), where the future of a company, its creditors, and employees are at stake. The Act outlines various grounds for winding up a company, including situations deemed ‘just and equitable’ by the court. While the winding-up process follows clear procedures and timelines, delays often arise due to third-party intervention applications (Interventions), where objections are raised before the statutory time for them to be heard. While third-party Interventions may be necessary in some cases, a ‘blanket / one size fits all’ kind of approach is not always appropriate.

This article explores the winding-up process under the Act, focusing on cases initiated by a contributory (generally a shareholder) before the Hon’ble National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). It will also explore why Interventions should be disallowed in these specific proceedings, particularly before the advertisement of the petition is published, and how piecemeal Interventions can hinder the progress of the case.

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CIRP is not a Remedy for Recovery of Unpaid Welfare Benefits

Corporate Disputes

The corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) is a powerful tool designed to resolve corporate insolvency. However, it is important to understand that CIRP is not the remedy if your welfare benefits are due, such as leave travel concession (LTC) or leave encashment. These unpaid benefits are classified as welfare claims, not operational debts, and therefore, cannot be used to initiate CIRP. The case of Kishore K. Lonkar v. Hindustan Antibiotics Limited provides critical clarity on this issue.

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Thresholds in insolvency resolution: Rationale for different yardsticks for financial and operational creditors

Corporate Disputes

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is a crucial part of India’s economic and financial changes. It helps resolve situations where a corporate entity cannot pay its debts. The IBC sets rules to make sure this process is balanced, fair and effective. In order to avoid misuse, the IBC has laid down certain ‘thresholds’ for a proceeding to be initiated before the National Company Law Tribunal. Such a threshold helps focus on more important cases which are of economic importance. This way, it stops the system from getting too busy with a multitude of cases involving smaller issues and defaults. In this article, we will discuss a significant difference between the process for operational creditors, compared to financial creditors, for initiating proceedings despite having a common threshold limit under the IBC.

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Vicarious Copyright Infringement: Could Employers be Caught Unaware?

Corporate Disputes

Copyright infringement occurs when individuals utilize someone else’s work without permission. While it might seem complex, it can occur inadvertently in commercial organizations. Even though it is quite common, only a few sensational instances may come to light for infringement. In this article, we will look at variations of copyright infringement under Indian law. Additionally, we will examine how employers could be held accountable for copyright violations committed by their employees, an aspect often neglected during the hiring process and subsequently.

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Preferential Transactions | Insolvency Code

Corporate Disputes

The Indian market has witnessed a surge in the number of distressed companies being dragged into insolvency. This is on account of past debts or other liabilities owed by the distressed company to its creditors, sureties and/or guarantors (Creditors). The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code) provides the statutory regime for dealing with such insolvent businesses. While dealing with the entire process of insolvency, it also regulates certain types of transactions which could undermine the value of the assets available to Creditors. These transactions are known as ‘avoidable transactions’ i.e., preferential transactions, undervalued transactions, transactions defrauding creditors and extortionate credit transactions. In this article, we will be dealing specifically with ‘Preferential Transactions’.

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Considering Litigation in India | Part VII – Always keep your options open!

Corporate Disputes

A recurring point that we have emphasized in each discussion around commercial litigation is to always keep the end commercial objective in mind. Litigation should always be a means to achieve the desired end objective. In an Indian context, the end objective for most commercial disputes should be to achieve a favorable settlement.

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Considering Litigation in India | Part VI – What happens outside court is just as important!

Corporate Disputes

This aspect of litigation is more critical than what a party may envisage it to be. While engaging in any kind of litigation one must be sensitive to the implication of events that occur outside court. One may not realize, but what transpires outside court could be used by either side to their advantage before

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Considering Litigation in India | Part V – Approaching the correct judicial forum!

Corporate Disputes

Introduction This article is in continuation to the series of earlier articles which deal with various aspects to bear in mind while seeking to litigate in India. In our past articles, we have discussed multiple key facets such as; the need to anticipate and strategize a dispute well in advance, the importance of facts

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Considering Litigation in India | Part IV – Counsels work with facts!

Corporate Disputes

This article is in continuation of the earlier articles that discuss various aspects one must bear in mind while seeking to litigate before courts in India. As outlined in the earlier article, it is imperative for a business to anticipate a dispute well in advance and plan the best approach for it.

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Considering Litigation in India | Part III – Anticipate the dispute & strategize!

Corporate Disputes

This article is a continuation of the earlier articles where we outlined the challenges associated with litigating in India and the considerations that one must bear in mind before getting into a ‘fight’. As recommended in the earlier article, parties to commercial disputes must at all time seek to settle rather than litigate endlessly

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