Dispute Resolution

In its judgement dated 7 January 2019 (Wockhardt Limited & Anr v Union of India – Writ Petition 9739 of 2018), a single Judge of the Delhi High Court  (High Court) has set aside the impugned notification dated 7 September 2018 which had prohibited the manufacture, distribution and sale of a particular fixed dose combination marketed by Wockhardt Limited (Wockhardt FDC) and remanded the matter to the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB)/Sub-committee constituted by the DTAB.

In the case of Sabha Shanker Dube v Divisional Forest Officer (Civil Appeal No 10956 of 2018), a division bench of the Supreme Court of India (Supreme Court) comprising of Mr. Justice S A Bobde and Mr. Justice Nageswara Rao, has reiterated the law on equal pay for equal work as long as the employees are engaged in similar work and responsibilities. The Supreme Court, while considering the correctness of a judgment passed by a division bench of the High Court of Allahabad (High Court), upheld the law on the subject of parity of pay scales on the principle of equal pay for equal work.

The Supreme Court of India (Supreme Court), vide its judgment in M/s Emaar MGF Land Limited v Aftab Singh (Review Petition (C) Nos 2629-2630 of 2018 in Civil Appeal Nos 23512-23513 of 2017), has conclusively decided that if a dispute brought before the consumer forum (consumer dispute/s) arises from an agreement which has an arbitration clause, the consumer forum will be the appropriate forum for hearing the dispute.

On 17 December 2018, the Hon’ble Bombay High Court (Court), in Ravi Arya & Ors v. Palm View Overseas Limited & Ors, passed an important order in relation to an anti-arbitration injunction sought by the Plaintiffs in the matter, against an arbitral proceeding seated in Mumbai.

The state of Bihar, after Odisha, now becomes the state to have imposed a complete ban on the use of plastic. The Bihar State Government, in exercise of the powers delegated under Notification No- S.O. 152(E) dated 10 February 1988 issued under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (Act) and under Section 23 of the Act, vide Notification No.

In a recent decision, the Karnataka High Court considered whether a Judge, other than the Judge of a High Court, is empowered to delegate the duty of examining and impounding any instrument under Section 33 of the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 (Act) to any other officer. The High Court answered the question in the negative.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court (SC), in its recent decision in the matter of M/s Hindon Forge Pvt. Ltd. & Anr.

In its recent decision in the matter of M/s Caravel Shipping Services Private Limited v M/s Premier Sea Foods Exim Private Limited (C.A. No.-010800-010801 of 2018 in SLP (C) Nos. 31101-31102 of 2016), the Supreme Court of India (Court) has held that the only prerequisite for an arbitration agreement is that it should be in writing, and the fact that the same is not signed by parties does not make it invalid.

On 11 October 2018, the Supreme Court (Court) vide its judgment in B.K. Educational Services Private Limited v Parag Gupta and Associates (Civil Appeal No. 23988 of 2017) clarified the applicability of Limitation Act, 1963 (Limitation Act) to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code).

The state of Odisha has joined the growing list of states to have introduced plastic ban in some form. An overwhelming 23 states in India thus have some form of regulation on the use of plastic. In the wake of wide-spread outcry pursuant to the Maharashtra Plastic Ban Notification which came in March 2018 and was subsequently amended twice as late as July, Odisha joins Tamil Nadu in implementing regulations on manufacture and usage of plastic.