Articles & Research

Attorney Client Privilege in India

Privileged communications between lawyers and clients are protected under the Evidence Act, and are intended to ensure that the profession of law is responsibly and freely carried out. This article contains an in-depth analysis of this privilege.

Remedies when chargesheet is filed without arrest

Various remedies are available to protect the liberty of a person who has not been arrested during investigation but is fearful of being taken into custody by the court upon his first appearance. This article discusses s. 205, anticipatory bail, s. 88, and regular bails as the remedies.

Draft Telecom Bill: Summary and Issues

DoT has recently proposed a consolidation and overhaul of the law around telecommunications in India, replacing the old existing legislations. This article summarizes the key provisions of the proposed bill and identifies issues in the proposals.

Antil trilogy: 3 decisions of the Supreme Court

The decisions of the Supreme Court in Satender Kumar Antil v CBI regarding procedure to be followed by courts in cases where the investigation agency has not arrested the accused person and filed its chargesheet, is critically analyzed in this article.

Maintenance of records: An analysis of various laws

Records, documents, and books of account are maintained by every business or person to keep track of historical things. This article analyses the provisions of various laws regarding the period of maintenance of such records and the consequences of non-maintenance.

Arrest and bail in GST law

Tax evasion, an economic offence, is dealt with heavily under law and enforcement. Arrest and bail provisions under the GST law are undergoing heavy evolution with the law being recent and being intensely invoked.

Retraction of Statements: An In-depth Analysis

Statements are often recorded by investigating agencies during the course of a search proceedings or summons appearance. This article analyses retractions filed against such statements in detail and identifies issues and salient things to be kept in mind.

Bills of lading: Basic concepts and issues

A bill of lading is more than a mere contractual or legal or transport document. It evidences several facets of relationships between various parties and continues to be debated in the legal circles regarding its form and significance.

Kinds of bail: an introduction and analysis

Under criminal justice system, bail is the rule and jail is an exception. Upon a person's arrest, different kinds of bail are available to him at different stages of his proceedings, as legal remedies to come out of the rigors of custody. This article introduces the different kinds of bail available to an accused.

Twin conditions for bail under the PMLA

The stringent twin conditions for grant of bail to persons arrested under the offence of money laundering are always in debate with frequent changes in jurisprudence around them. This detailed essay scrutinizes these conditions and contrasts them with other laws.

An illustrative inquiry under the Black Money Act

The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income & Assets) & Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 (“BMA”) is a strict taxation law that seeks to heavily tax and criminally punish taxpayers having undisclosed foreign incomes and assets located outside India. This article seeks to examine an illustrative case scenario of investigation/inquiry under the BMA and its interplay with the income tax law.

Adjudication procedure under FEMA

FEMA, or the foreign exchange law of India, regulates the flow of foreign exchange to and from India. In case the provisions of the law are contravened, penalty is leviable under FEMA and the levy is done through a formal adjudication process.

Independent and Non-Executive Directors cannot be held criminally liable if not responsible for conduct of business of the company

The Supreme Court recently held that no liability could be fixed on independent, non-executive directors who were not involved in the day-to-day functioning of the defaulting company. Directors of a company cannot be held criminally liable under section 138 read with section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, if they were not responsible for conducting the business of the company.

Sale of TDRs not taxable if cost of acquisition not determinable

The ITAT recently held that capital gains arising on account of sale of transferable development rights are not taxable if the cost of acquisition is not determinable

Reassessment not maintainable if the assessee is only 'likely' to have claimed incorrect deduction

The Bombay High Court has quashed the reassessment proceedings in a case where the reasons for reopening by the Assessing Officer recorded that it was 'likely' that the assessee might have claimed incorrect deduction.

Expenditure on giving freebies to doctors not allowable as deduction u/s 37(1) of Income-tax Act, 1961

The Supreme Court has recently held that since acceptance of freebies by doctors was 'prohibited by law', the expenditure incurred by pharma companies on giving such freebies was to be disallowed as expenditure.