Payal Chawla Last year, the decision in the matter of Indus Mobile Distribution Pvt. Ltd v. Datawind Innovations Pvt. Ltd. [(2017) 7 SCC 678] was delivered by the Supreme Court. This decision was welcomed from the perspective of bringing quietus to the jurisdiction issue in domestic arbitration, and yet at the same time, criticized inter alia for being in the…
DetailsPayal Chawla An ideal investment agreement is one that enables a start-up investee company to thrive. The key is finding the right balance of rights and obligations between the investor and the promoter. Overly onerous obligations on the promoter can suffocate the freedom, nimbleness, risk-taking ability and ingenuity required by the promoter to make a…
DetailsPayal Chawla and Hina Shaheen The appointment of an arbitrator by one party to an arbitration agreement has been a vexed issue. The pre-amended Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”) permitted such appointments, with certain limited exceptions. That these unilateral appointments have been the cause of much angst and litigation is not in dispute. The…
DetailsFranchising is a business model that has been effectively leveraged by the West in expansion of business, while splitting the cost and responsibility with the local franchisee. Payal Chawla Franchising is a business model that has been effectively leveraged by the West in expansion of business, while splitting the cost and responsibility with the local…
DetailsIn the summer of 1980, when I joined Modern School, I was taken under the wing of our 6th grade fashionista — our very own version of the Devil in Prada. I was new to Delhi and Rashmi helped me find friends. She generously introduced me to Aarti. But amidst our own budding friendship, Rashmi…
DetailsPayal Chawla and Aastha Bhardwaj Originally appeared in Bar & Bench, 19.12.2017 As arbitrations enhance in India, so will arbitration claims and their quantum. There will be a consequent rise in arbitration costs, be it legal fees, arbitrators’ fees, security on costs, and/or costs payable by the unsuccessful party. Arbitral costs can be exorbitant, and…
DetailsPayal Chawla This article was first published in Bar and Bench on 17.11.2017 In India, while the contracts of indemnity are perhaps the most negotiated clauses in a contract, they are paradoxically the least litigated. The paucity of legal precedence on this subject may be one of the reasons, despite some early pronouncements on the…
DetailsPayal Chawla It is common knowledge that an arbitral tribunal is not bound by the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. This is enshrined in s.19(1) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (ACA). S.19(1) has sometimes been misunderstood as to its scope and whether the Code and the Evidence…
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