Articles and Updates

• Vasanth Rajasekaran , Saurabh Babulkar and Harshvardhan Korada - 30-12-2021

The year ended on a high note, with several noteworthy judgments being delivered by the Supreme Court, NCLATs and NCLTs across India in matters involving the Insolvency and Bankruptcy, Code 2016. We cover a few such decisions rendered in the year 2021 that discuss and set out the legal position concerning the interpretation and applicability of provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

• Neha Naik and Madhavi Doshi - 27-12-2021

In a recent judgment1, upholding the order passed by the NCLT and settling previous uncertainties, the Supreme Court of India (“Supreme Court”), held that an arbitration petition is not maintainable after a petition under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”) is admitted. However, during the pendency of a Section 7 petition, parties could be referred to arbitration.

• Vasanth Rajasekaran , Saurabh Babulkar and Harshvardhan Korada - 20-12-2021

The Hon'ble Supreme Court in a recent decision in Ratnam Sudesh Iyer v. Jackie Kakubhai Shroff1 reiterated that the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act 2015 (2015 Amendment Act) is prospective in nature and would apply to only those arbitral proceedings or court proceedings commencing on or after the 2015 Amendment Act coming into force. Therefore, the Apex Court held that the plea of 'patent illegality' was not available for an award that was rendered in an international commercial arbitration post the 2015 Amendment Act. Further, the Apex Court clarified that a generally worded arbitration clause could not constitute an agreement to allow retrospective application of the 2015 Amendment Act contrary to the legislative intent. In this article, we briefly navigate through the facts and findings which led to the aforementioned judgment.

• Jatin Arora , Neha Naik and Madhavi Doshi - 20-12-2021

In a recent judgment1 overturning the order of the NCLT, Ahmedabad (NCLT), the NCLAT New Delhi (NCLAT) held that abandoned imported goods lying in the customs warehouses for several years, cannot be considered a part of the Corporate Debtor's (CD) assets.

• Vasanth Rajasekaran , Saurabh Babulkar and Harshvardhan Korada - 17-12-2021

The Hon'ble Supreme Court in a recent judgment in Welspun Specialty Solutions Ltd. (formerly known as Remi Metals Gujrat Ltd.) v. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd.1 held that whether time is of the essence in a contract has to be culled out from the reading of the entire contract as well as the surrounding circumstances. Merely having an explicit clause may not be sufficient to make time the essence of the contract. In this article, we briefly discuss the facts and circumstances which led to the aforementioned judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court.