The Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) on 12 June 2026, notified the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026 (‘Amendment Rules’), amending the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 (‘NDI Rules’). The Amendment Rules constitute the third amendment in the FEMA liberalisation cycle for the year 2026, following the first and second amendments, which respectively relaxed restrictions on investments from countries sharing a land border with India and liberalised foreign investment in the insurance sector opening the sector up till 100% under automatic route. The third amendment is yet another attempt to widen the gate for the Indian economy. For years, access to India's listed securities market was reserved specially for a defined class amongst which are foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and non-resident Indians (NRIs) and overseas citizens of India (OCIs), this time the liberalisation is into the Indian capital markets.
The 2026 Steel import Regulation of the European Union (EU) (‘2026 Regulation’),[1] which came into force on 1 July 2026, is not simply a continuation of earlier Steel Safeguard measures[2] applicable since 2018, but it indicates a decisive shift in the EU’s approach to regulate its steel imports in the coming years. With lowering of tariff-rate quotas (TRQs), higher out-of-quota duties and proposal for stricter origin requirements, the 2026 Regulation goes beyond the WTO’s temporary safeguard regime to a more permanent industrial policy governing steel imports into the EU. In particular, the 2026 Regulation reduces the EU's tariff-free steel quota by ~47%, doubles the out-of-quota duty from 25% to 50%, and introduces a new ‘melt and pour’ traceability requirement.
Various State Benches of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (‘GSTAT’) have recently become operational, and questions relating to jurisdiction between the Principal Bench and the State Benches have begun to arise in practice. While Section 109 of the CGST Act specifies certain categories of cases to be dealt with exclusively by the Principal Bench, early orders of the Principal Bench indicate that jurisdictional issues are not always straightforward.
The article deals with a peculiar issue of simultaneous applicability of two penal provisions being Sections 221 and 271C of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which may be fastened on the assessee for non-deduction/ short deduction of tax at source. The authors for this purpose consider the relevant provisions, applicability of Rule of Double Jeopardy and various judicial precedents on applicability of two penalty provisions for the short deduction of TDS.
The new Rules will come into force on 1 April 2023 and will introduce recycling targets in the extended producer responsibility (‘EPR’) plan of the producers of e-waste. The article elaborately discusses major changes and the widened scope as compared to the earlier 2016 Rules. The authors discuss the registration requirements, reduction of compliances on bulk consumers, introduction of recycling certificate, introduction of refurbishing certificate and deferred liability, and penal provisions
The article further discusses the evolving law around Divisional Applications in India. Analysing two decisions of the IPAB and one of the Delhi High Court, the article notes that the requirement that the claims of a divisional application have to be based on, more particularly, to have their route, or to be gleaned from, or clearly exist in, the claims of the parent application, appears to be a unique one and such a requirement is not seen in other major jurisdictions, such as Europe or USA.
The WTO Panel has held that USA’s additional duties on imports of steel products and aluminium products are inconsistent with various provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (‘GATT’), most notably the security exception in Article XXI. The article discusses the panel’s key findings concerning the consistency of the US’ measures with GATT Article XXI which enables a WTO Member to take measures which are necessary for the protection of its essential security interests
The article discusses the GST liability on arbitral awards. It notes that though the CBIC Circular No. 178/10/2022-GST, dated 3 August 2022 has paved the way in understanding the GST implications on arbitral awards, determination of the nature of the arbitral award, requires analysis of facts surrounding each case and the terms and conditions of the contract entered between the parties as the awarded amount may not necessarily be in the nature of a compensation.
The charitable trusts/institutions enjoy substantial income-tax benefits and hence are often subject to detailed scrutiny to ensure that commercial concerns are kept outside the boundaries of the tax-exempt status. Tracing the evolution of the definition of charitable purpose and its judicial interpretation, the article explains the recent decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority. According to the authors...
The article notes that due to subjective nature of the investigations under consideration, there is no set mechanism or strict procedure which needs to be adhered to, for conducting such investigations. The authors however discuss the broad guidelines related to requisition, review and questionnaire, investigation interviews, transcripts, and preparing the investigation report, which aid the investigation team and are to be read along with the internal policies of the concerned organization.
The article discusses elaborately the evolving jurisprudence of Divisional Applications in India. It notes that in India, a divisional application under Section 16 of the Patents Act, 1970 may be pursued to overcome an objection by the Patent Office on the unity of invention, or voluntarily by the Applicant if the claims of the parent Application are directed to more than one invention. Citing a recent decision of the Delhi High Court, the authors note that in India...
In the previous article , we shed light on the nature and extent of Western sanctions. We explained that among the numerous measures adopted by the Western nations in response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, unilateral sanctions have been employed as a primary instrument to economically penalize Russia and its allies such as Belarus.
The Government has with effect from 19 November 2022 rolled back export duty on iron ore pellets and steel products, including pig iron, flat-rolled products of carbon steel and stainless steel, bars, rods and non-alloy steel, vide Notification No. 58/2022-Customs, dated 18 November 2022.
In V. Shankar v. SEBI , the company secretary (CS) of Deccan Chronicle Holding Limited (‘DCHL’) was absolved by Securities Appellate Tribunal (‘SAT’), Mumbai, from the liability imposed by the Adjudicating Officer (‘AO’) of Securities Exchange Board of India (‘SEBI’) on DCHL for misleading financial statements and information given by the DCHL.
The Supreme Court on 4 November 2022, upheld the constitutional validity of certain amendments made to the Employees’ Pension Scheme (‘EPS’) by way of the Employees' Pension (Amendment) Scheme, 2014 (‘Amendment Scheme’). This much-awaited ruling in the matter of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation & Another v. Sunil Kumar B. and Others will impact thousands of working individuals and make the EPS more viable.
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