India: Corporate/Commercial Law

India is perhaps one of the first countries in the world to make a robust and mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) initiative which requires the corporations to contribute a portion of their earnings...

Indian trust law was conceived in a very different economic era. Public charitable trusts were traditionally viewed as custodians of philanthropic intent and were institutions established to preserve charitable objects, administer donations and safeguard public beneficiaries.

SEBI has issued a circular deferring penal consequences for listed entities that fail to meet minimum public shareholding norms during periods of external economic disruption. This regulatory relief measure allows companies additional time to achieve compliance under more favorable market conditions while maintaining the long-term integrity of public shareholding requirements.

The Hindu Undivided Family ("HUF") is one of the more structurally unusual entities in Indian law. Recognised as a separate taxable person under the Income Tax Act, 1961, it is managed by a Karta, and its assets are held for the benefit of all co-parceners and members of the family unit.

Every M&A lawyer has, at some point, sat across the table from opposing counsel arguing over a single clause for far longer than its word count would suggest is reasonable. More often than not, that clause is indemnity. It rarely makes headlines the way valuation or deal structure does, but ask any dealmaker what actually gets fought over in the last mile of negotiations, and the answer is almost always the same - who bears the loss when things go wrong and how much of it.

The Competition Commission of India issued multiple antitrust enforcement orders in June 2026, investigating exploitative practices in beauty pageants, penalizing truck associations for price-fixing in Odisha's mineral transport sector, and closing a long-standing pharmaceutical distribution case. The Commission also approved numerous mergers and acquisitions across infrastructure, energy, consumer goods, and technology sectors while addressing allegations of abuse of dominance in real estate, airport trans

The Hindu Undivided Family ("HUF") is one of the more structurally unusual entities in Indian law. Recognised as a separate taxable person under the Income Tax Act, 1961, it is managed by a Karta, and its assets are held for the benefit of all co-parceners and members of the family unit.

Securing investment is a major milestone in the growth of any company. Whether funding comes from angel investors, venture capital firms or private equity funds, businesses must be legally prepared before entering investment discussions.

These events prompted regulators to strengthen governance standards by introducing stricter disclosure norms, enhanced board accountability and greater emphasis on transparency and stakeholder protection.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) through the circular HO/19/34/11(2)2026-AFD-POD1/I/13764/2026 dated 16 June 2026 (Circular) has issued guidelines for AIFs seeking ‘Inoperative Fund’ status. The Circular follows SEBI’s consultation paper dated 5 February 2026 titled ‘Flexibility to Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) in Winding up the Scheme / Surrendering the Registration’, which proposed granting AIFs / VCFs greater flexibility to retain liquidation proceeds beyond the expiry of their permissible tenure in specified circumstances.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (“DPIIT”), through its revised Standard Operating Procedure (“SOP”) dated 4 May 2026 for processing Foreign Direct Investment (“FDI”) proposals, has introduced what appears at first glance to be a procedural reform.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”), vide its circular dated April 8, 2026, has operationalised the mechanism for lock-in of pledged shares under the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018 (“ICDR Regulations”), as part of its ease of doing business initiatives.