Insights
Adv. Adithya Karthik K
Notes on Indian law written by Adv. Adithya Karthik K, Partner. Particulars are on Adv. Adithya Karthik K's page.
A road carrier in India answers for lost goods up to ten times the freight, unless a higher risk rate was agreed
A common carrier of goods by road in India is responsible under the Carriage by Road Act, 2007 for loss or damage in transit unless a cause listed in section 17 applies, but section 10(1) limits the liability to an amount fixed by rule, which rule 12(1) of the Carriage by Road Rules, 2011 makes, for total loss, ten times the freight, never above the value declared in the goods forwarding note.
A show-cause notice from the Securities and Exchange Board of India opens a 60-day settlement window and, if penalty follows, a 45-day appeal
A show-cause notice from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) can end in an adjudication order under section 15-I of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (SEBI Act) or in a settlement.
Buying an antiquity in India turns on the seller's licence, registration where notified and the bar on private export, and a defect in any of them can cost the buyer the object
On our reading of section 2(1)(a) of the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 (the Act), a work of art or craftsmanship becomes an antiquity once it has been in existence for not less than one hundred years, and a manuscript or record of scientific, historical, literary or aesthetic value becomes one at seventy-five years.
In a drug company's insolvency resolution the licence and trial permission continue on payment of current dues, and the data retention clocks keep running
When a pharmaceutical or biotechnology company enters the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the Code), its drug manufacturing licence and clinical trial permission are not suspended or terminated on the ground of insolvency while current dues are paid, under the Explanation to section 14(1) inserted in 2020.
A Bengaluru hotel with a restaurant and a bar answers to six licensing regimes, and only the food safety rules say in terms that a lapse stops all business at the premises
A Bengaluru hotel with a restaurant and a bar answers to six regimes: food safety, excise, the city corporation's trade licence, the police licence for a place of public entertainment, fire law and music copyright.
An allottee can seek a refund with interest, delay interest, insolvency or a consumer award against a developer that has not delivered
An allottee whose developer has not delivered a flat can ask, under section 18 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA Act), either for the money back with interest or, staying in the project, for interest for every month of delay, at the rate in rule 16 of the Karnataka Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017, which is the State Bank of India highest marginal cost of lending rate plus two per cent.
A company holding a dishonoured cheque: the section 138 timeline, the forum and the interim money
A company that is paid by cheque and finds it returned unpaid has a criminal complaint under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 only if four steps are taken in order: presentation of the cheque within its validity, a written demand within 30 days of the bank's return information, a 15 day wait for payment, and a complaint within one month after that wait ends.
How a financial creditor starts insolvency against a company under section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
A financial creditor starts corporate insolvency against a company by an application under section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 before the National Company Law Tribunal, resting on a default of at least INR 1 crore and, for allottees of a real estate project or creditors in a class under section 21(6A)(a) or (b), on a joint application by the lesser of 100 creditors or 10 per cent of the class.
A Canadian pension fund in Indian infrastructure: the income-tax exemption, and the treaty rates where it does not apply
Schedule V of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (Table, Sl.
What protects a Japanese investor in India today: the CEPA investment chapter and the tax treaty
The India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), signed at Tokyo on 16 February 2011, has its own investment chapter, Chapter 8, and the Department of Economic Affairs register of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) lists no India-Japan BIT, so India's 2016 and 2017 BIT terminations appear not to have touched it.
The threshold for a material related party transaction now rises with the size of the listed entity
From 19 December 2025 a related party transaction of a listed entity is material, and needs the prior approval of shareholders, only above a threshold that rises with the entity's annual consolidated turnover.
An alternative investment fund may now offer co-investment through its own scheme, capped at three times the investor's contribution to the fund's investment in that company
Since 9 September 2025 a Category I or Category II alternative investment fund (AIF) may offer its accredited investors a co-investment in a portfolio company through a separate co-investment scheme of the fund itself, and no longer only through a co-investment portfolio manager.
The 15 Per Cent Shareholder: What a Company Petition Is Actually Worth
A minority shareholder who petitions the NCLT under section 241 and wins a buyout order still has to survive the arithmetic.
An AI vendor's indemnity moves the money, not the responsibility: contracts, diligence and disclosure
Contracts for AI tools are usually drafted as if a warranty and an indemnity settle who answers for the tool.
An FPI must disclose its owners down to natural persons if over half its Indian equity sits in one group or it holds over INR 50,000 crore
A foreign portfolio investor (FPI) that holds more than 50 per cent of its Indian equity assets under management (AUM) in one Indian corporate group, or more than INR 50,000 crore of Indian equity AUM alone or with its investor group, must give its designated depository participant (DDP) the name of every person with any ownership, economic interest or control in it, down to natural persons.
One Crore of Operating Profit: The SME IPO Gate and What It Costs to Clear It
Since 4 March 2025 an SME issuer cannot file a draft offer document unless it has earned operating profit of INR 1 crore from operations in two of the last three financial years.
What an Overseas Citizen of India cardholder may and may not do in India: rights, property, work and cancellation
An Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder is a foreign national, and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notification S.O. 1050(E) of 4 March 2021, made under section 7B of the Citizenship Act, 1955, gives the cardholder a lifelong multiple-entry visa, parity with a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) on buying and selling immovable property other than agricultural land, a farm house or plantation property, and the rights of a foreigner in every other economic, financial and educational field.
Investing into India through Mauritius or Singapore in October 2026: the treaty tests, the GAAR and Tiger Global
Under the India-Mauritius and India-Singapore double taxation avoidance agreements (DTAAs) as amended in 2016, gains on Indian shares acquired on or after 1 April 2017 may be taxed in India, while shares acquired before that date stay taxable only in the investor's State of residence, subject in Singapore to a limitation of benefits clause.
The Money Laundering Act Has Become an Asset Statute, Not Just a Criminal One
For an ordinary operating company, the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 now does its real work long before anyone is convicted of anything.
Three clocks run under Regulation 30, and the shortest one starts when the board meeting closes
Regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 is usually read as a list of events.
Revised Schedule M gave smaller drug makers one extension, and it ran out on 31 December 2025
Every manufacturer licensed under rule 74, 76 or 78 of the Drugs Rules, 1945 has been bound by the revised Schedule M since 31 December 2025 at the latest: since 28 June 2024 above INR 250 crore, and since 28 December 2024 for a smaller manufacturer that did not file Form A.
What the India-UAE Bilateral Investment Treaty protects for a UAE investor in India, and what it leaves out
The India-United Arab Emirates (UAE) Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), signed at Abu Dhabi on 13 February 2024 and in force from 31 August 2024, protects a UAE investor's enterprise-based investment in India against denial of justice, fundamental breach of due process, targeted discrimination, manifestly abusive treatment and uncompensated expropriation.
A power of attorney signed abroad to sell a flat in Bengaluru: the route, the stamp clock and the limit
A non-resident Indian (NRI) who signs a power of attorney abroad has two routes to a document Indian authorities will take: signature before an Indian consular officer, or signature before a foreign notary followed by an apostille under the Hague Convention of 1961.
What the India-Singapore CECA investment chapter protects for a Singapore investor, and what it leaves out
The investment chapter of the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), signed at New Delhi on 29 June 2005 and in force from 1 August 2005, gives a Singapore investor in India national treatment, protection against expropriation without prompt, adequate and effective compensation, free transfer of returns, and a right to take most disputes to arbitration after six months of consultations.
A Put Option Against a Resident: What Makes It Enforceable, and at What Price
A put option given by an Indian promoter to a foreign fund is enforceable in India, and has been since 2013, but it survives three separate tests rather than one.
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