India Business Law Journal Your partner in legal intelligence Dec 2015/Jan 2016 Volume 9, Issue 6 In the spotlight PK Malhotra and Sudhanshu Pandey talk reform India in 2016 2015 Deals of the Year Dispute resolution reimagined What foreign lawyers love and don’t love in India www.indilaw.com Contents 3 Leader Out with the old, in with the new 1517 4 Inbox In the 5 Market pulse HSA partners head to IndusLaw spotlight InsightBee buzzes with M&A boost PK Malhotra and Sudhanshu Pandey talk Nishith Desai opens New York office candidly about opening the legal market 8 The wrap and speeding up dispute resolution Deal digest: page 8 Business law digest: page 11 Dispute digest: page 14 29 17 Cover story Deals of the In the spotlight Year 21 Vantage point India in 2016 Celebrating the top deals and disputes Five legal specialists share their forecasts of 2015 for the next 12 months 25 Spotlight Back to the drawing board 59 Dispute resolution strategies for India need a rethink in the wake of changes to the arbitration regime The India 29 What’s the deal? diaries Deals of the Year Foreign lawyers reveal what they love and don’t 59 Intelligence report love about India and recount their most memorable experiences in the country The India diaries 68 Correspondents Expert advice from India Business Law Journal’s correspondent law firms 68 Banking & finance 75 Private equity & venture capital Economic Laws Practice ARA LAW 69 Canada-India trade & investment 77 Real estate Torys Economic Laws Practice 70 Dispute resolution 78 Regulatory developments Bharucha & Partners Phoenix Legal 71 Foreign direct investment 79 Smart cities Luthra & Luthra HSA Advocates 73 Media & entertainment 80 Taxation & transfer pricing LexOrbis Economic Laws Practice 74 Mergers & acquisitions Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co December 2015/January 2016 India Business Law Journal 1 Editorial board India Business Law Journal Dec 2015/Jan 2016 Volume 9, Issue 6 ISSN: 1994-5841 Pravin Anand Shamnad Basheer Sanjit Kaur Batra Lalit Bhasin Himavat Chaudhuri PM Devaiah Contact us Managing Partner Founder Senior Counsel & President Chief Legal Partner & General Anand and Anand SpicyIP Legal Manager Society of Indian & Regulatory Counsel Editorial (South Asia) Law Firms Affairs Officer Everstone Capital Email: [email protected] DuPont Tata Sky Advisors Telephone: +852 3622 2673 Subscriptions & customer service Email: [email protected] Telephone: +852 3622 2623 Fax: +852 3006 5377 www.indilaw.com Editor Sumes Dewan Badrinath Durvasula Girish Gokhale Manik Karanjawala Amit Anant Moghay Fali S Nariman Vandana Chatlani Managing Partner Vice President & Legal Senior Litigation Partner General Counsel Senior Counsel Lex Favios Head Consultant Karanjawala & Co HSBC Deputy editor Larsen & Toubro DSK Legal Rebecca Abraham Sub-editor Simmie Magid Contributors Nandini Lakshman Sumit Rai Naresh Thacker Production editor Pun Tak Shu Debolina Partap Mysore R Prasanna Premnath Rai Vijaya Sampath Sunil Seth Ashok Sharma Head of marketing General Counsel Independent Founding Partner Senior partner Senior Partner Founder President Wockhardt Consultant PRA Law Offices Lakshmikumaran & Seth Dua & Indian Corporate Anita Fung Sridharan Associates Counsel Association Associate publisher Tina Tucker Publisher James Burden Printed in Hong Kong Rajinder Sharma Pallavi Shroff Amarjit Singh Shruti Dvivedi Sodhi Shardul Thacker Jagannadham General Counsel Managing Partner Managing Partner Chief Compliance Partner Thunuguntla Flipkart Shardul Amarchand Amarjit & Associates Officer Mulla & Mulla & Strategist & Head Vantage Asia Publishing Limited Mangaldas Aircel Craigie Blunt & Caroe of Research SMC Global Securities 21/F Gold Shine Tower 346-348 Queen’s Road Central Hong Kong Correspondent law firms Telephone: +852 3622 2673 Email: [email protected] www.vantageasia.com • ARA LAW • Phoenix Legal Editor-in-chief John Church • Bharucha & Partners • Saikrishna & Associates Directors James Burden, Kelley Fong • Economic Laws Practice • Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co Disclaimer & conditions of sale • HSA Advocates • Torys Vantage Asia Publishing Limited retains the copyright of all material published in this magazine. 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[email protected] +852 3622 2623 www.indilaw.com © Vantage Asia Publishing Ltd, 2015 2 India Business Law Journal December 2015/January 2016 Opinion Leader Out with the old, in with the new From road congestion to courtroom dispute. But now, under the new regime, it marks the firing of the first bullet, an irreversible action that should be taken backlogs, fresh ideas are afoot only as a last resort. This is a significant change that will require fresh thinking from all concerned. to get India moving Other changes that may be afoot in India are discussed in this issue’s extended Vantage point (page 21), where hile 2015 was dominated by doubts over the four in-house counsel and the president of the Society of abilities of India’s policy makers to effect mean- Indian Law Firms present their predictions on the devel- W ingful change, the new year comes with renewed opments that will shape India’s business climate in 2016. hope that new ideas can take flight. The much lauded odd- Despite jitters over the health of the global economy and even scheme that is being implemented to curb traffic on the slowdown in China, cautious optimism about India’s Delhi’s bursting-at-the-seams roads has shown that policy prospects prevails. Yet our commentators also highlight makers can think out of the box and that politicians have danger areas and challenges that must be addressed. the wherewithal to implement change, even in the face of Vijayashyam Acharya, the director of legal and compliance public scepticism and powerful opposition. at OnMobile, believes that the focus on legislative and Can such audacious thinking be repeated in other structural reform has been disrupted by “the disproportion- areas? The existing state of affairs – be ately high amount of time, attention and it in the legal and regulatory realm or resources the prime minister is devot- infrastructure or public health – cannot ing to promote India’s image overseas”. India Business Law Journal continue. India needs more success sto- Your partner in legal intelligence Dec 2015/Jan 2016 Naveen Raju, the general counsel and Volume 9, Issue 6 ries like that being scripted in Delhi. senior vice president of group legal serv- This issue’s Cover story (page 17) pro- ices at Mahindra & Mahindra, expresses vides grounds for optimism that change concern over the lack of momentum may be afoot on several fronts. In an for reform and says that “the govern- exclusive interview with India Business ment’s investment in key infrastructure Law Journal’s editor, Vandana Chatlani, has not matched its announcements and India’s law secretary, PK Malhotra, says policies”. that the country’s legal market will open While our five commentators highlight as soon as safeguards that “everybody is some of India’s deficiencies, this issue’s looking for” are in place. Malhotra says the In the spotlight What’s the deal? (page 29) celebrates Bar Council of India is in consultation with PK Malhotra and Sudhanshu Pandey talk reform many of its achievements with a round-up the state bar councils regarding a suit- of the top 50 deals and dispute resolution able regulatory framework. Once this has India in 2016 cases of 2015. Following an extensive 2015 Deals of the Year been finalized and when the government Dispute resolution reimagined shortlisting process, the featured deals believes it is “in line with constitutional and What foreign lawyers love and don’t love in India were chosen by our editors not only for statutory provisions, we will give it the go- www.indilaw.com their size in monetary terms, but also for ahead,” he says. their complexity, innovation and the prec- But when will this happen? Malhotra edents that were set. While analysing the says that the government is “expecting this to happen very significance of each deal, our coverage identifies the law soon”, but as the joint secretary for commerce, Sudhanshu firms and lawyers who guided it through its many twists Pandey, who was also interviewed, pointed out: “there are and turns. This information will be particularly valuable certain asymmetries which the Indian legal system suffers to in-house counsel whose companies are contemplating from and they need to be addressed before we open up”. similar transactions. India Business Law Journal’s interview with Malhotra and Finally in this issue of India Business Law Journal, in a Pandey also touched on the ever-present challenge of dis- flourish of festive fun we indulge in a light-hearted look pute resolution in India. This is an area where progress has at the non-curricular activities of foreign lawyers in India been made with recent amendments to the Arbitration and (The India diaries, page 59). While striking deals may be Conciliation Act, 1996, in the form of the Arbitration and their primary objective on business trips, many also find Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015. Commenting time to enjoy the charms and chaos that India offers in on one of the key changes, the introduction of a strict time abundance.