The President of India has promulgated the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance on 21 February 2019 (Ref: No. 7 of 2019) (Ordinance). The Central Government had tabled a bill in the Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian Parliament) which proposed to ban unregulated deposit schemes.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (Supreme Court) in its judgment, in M/s SCG Contracts India Pvt. Ltd. v. K.S. Chamankar Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. & Ors. [Civil Appeal No. 1638 Of 2019] held that the failure to file written statements within the statutory time period of 120 days for filing written statements in a commercial suit will result in the forfeiture of the right of the defendant to file a written statement.
On 22 January 2019, the National Green Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi (NGT) in the case of Saloni Singh & Anr v Union of India & Ors (OA No. 141 of 2014) inter alia, directed the Railway Administration, Ministry of Railways, Government of India (Railway Administration) to develop ‘eco-smart stations’ which would serve as model stations to ensure effective compliance with the Plastic and Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) through its circular dated 15 February 2019 (RBI Circular) relaxed one of the restrictions imposed on foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) while investing in the Indian debt market. On 15 June 2018, the RBI had introduced certain conditions for FPIs looking to invest through the bond route in India (2018 Circular). Although under the 2018 Circular, the RBI had relaxed the minimum maturity period requirements for FPIs (reducing the period from 3 years to 1 year), it had also imposed single/group investor-wise limits in corporate bonds.
On 1 January 2019, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) vide Press Note No.1 of 2019 Series (Press Note 2019) specified the list of defence items under the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 (IDRA) and the list of arms and ammunitions requiring license under Form VII of the Arms Act, 1959 (Arms Act), for which the licensing authority has been granted to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). The Press Note 2019 supersedes the Press Note No.3 of 2014 Series issued by the MCI on 26 June 2014 (Press Note 2014).
On 11 February 2019, the Supreme Court dismissed the Civil Appeal bearing No. 1484 of 2019 filed by Rai Bahadur Shree Ram and Company Pvt. Ltd. (the shareholder and promoter of Ferro Alloys Corporation Limited) and affirmed the landmark judgment passed by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in the matter of Ferro Alloys Corporation Limited v Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (Comp. App (AT) (Ins) No. 92 of 2017) and other connected appeals, in favour of Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC), the financial creditor.
On 8 February 2019, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) released the Companies (Significant Beneficial Owners) Amendment Rules, 2019 (New SBO Rules) to revise and amend the Companies (Significant Beneficial Owners), 2018 (Old SBO Rules). The New SBO Rules have once again kick-started the process of requiring significant beneficial owners to start the reporting procedures. On certain aspects, the New SBO Rules have brought in clarity to the significant beneficial owner disclosure regime.
On 4 February 2019, the Gujarat High Court, in the case of Yasho Industries Limited, Cosmo Films Limited and Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited quashed the pre-import condition for advance authorisation scheme. The summary of this landmark decision argued by us is provided below:
This is further to our Ergo Update dated 5 July 2019 regarding Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) in-principal approval to the framework for enabling initial public offer of ordinary equity shares by tech companies having equity shares with superior voting rights (SR Shares).
The bench of Hon’ble Justices Uday Umesh Lalit and Vineet Saran of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (Supreme Court), vide judgement dated 22 August 2019 in Air India Express Limited and others v Captain Gurdarshan Kaur Sandhu [Civil Appeal Number 6567 of 2019], examined whether an employee can withdraw his / her resignation during the term of notice period.
