SKOCH India Law Award
Roll of Honour 2022
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SKOCH India Law Forum (ILF) is an independent platform for change-makers, committed to bringing about a transformative change to the nation through law and legal reform. For 2022, ILF seeks to bring together India’s leading legal luminaries, the government, the judiciary, practitioners of law and the legal fraternity, at the intersection of law and life. While most law forums, which are rare in India, focus on legal practice or legislation, ILF 22 will focus on the impact of law and legislation on businesses and individuals. This is an attempt to understand the impact of law on real life and the aim is to improve the outcomes through dialogue, debate and deliberations.
The forum will look to make recommendations that can increase access to justice and improve the rule of law through proper enforcement. We will look to instigate a positive transformation in India through legal reform by having enriching discussions and debates with actionable outcomes. If India is to become a developed country by 2047, what kind of a judicial system will take us there? What kind of changes will be needed in the current legal and legislative systems to ensure proper enforcement that will actually benefit the citizens.
The forum is being organized by SKOCH Group, which has been organizing India’s leading dialogues across areas of governance, public administration, financial, digital & social inclusion, bringing together India’s leading public intellectuals, domain experts, captains of industry and doyens of their respective fields, to ideate and deliberate on transformative change for India’s economic and social growth and development since 1997. The SKOCH motto of “Growth, Livelihoods and Equity” has been the guiding light in all areas of deliberation and research, with deep focus on creating lasting impact, upward mobility and empowerment for those at the last mile, and the last in the queue.
India Law Forum 2022 is being organized with the understanding that law is fundamental to shaping the India of tomorrow and improving access to justice for everyone. ILF will be the bridge between law (government, lawyers & courts) and life (corporate and individuals) that will be needed to achieve uniform growth across different regions, sectors and industries.
India Law Forum 2022 will focus on four topically relevant tracks, pertaining to major legal developments in the country that warrant a high quality & exhaustive discussion.
LITFest: The India Law Forum LitFest is being organised along with the India Law Forum. It has been our earnest effort at SKOCH Group to showcase, discuss and debate the biggest ideas featured in the best publications by the nation’s brightest minds at the SKOCH LitFest.
Taxpayer Rights: Deciphering the Indian Charter critically analyses the presents the practitioners’ and academics’ perspective on the contemporary subject of Taxpayer Rights & Obligations. The book aims to further the discourse on the state of taxpayer rights in India, in light of the Indian Charter of 2020 and the global developments.
India, That Is Bharat, the first book of a comprehensive trilogy, explores the influence of European ‘colonial consciousness’ (or ‘coloniality’), in particular its religious and racial roots, on Bharat as the successor state to the Indic civilisation and the origins of the Indian Constitution.
Replete with wit, satire, humour, and a passionate awareness of the ever-changing world, Kapil Sibal’s collection of poetry is a testimony to Warren’s belief. With varied themes ranging from love, desire, friendship, world economy, terrorism, and international affairs, the poems take us on a path to discover a universe that is so perfect in its imperfection.
It is given to very few by Destiny that their virtues are equal to their genius and their character is distinguished not by a few admirable prominences, but is uniformly elevated. Justice Venkatachaliah belongs to that exceptional class.
A close look at criminal cases that shocked the country. Drawing on her vast experience as a senior advocate and Additional Solicitor General at the Supreme Court, Pinky Anand examines criminal cases that have captured public interest. Breaking down each aspect of cases such as the Nirbhaya rape, the Nanavati murder, the Nithari killings and others, she gives us an inside look and lawyer’s perspective into the manner of legal proceedings, strategies employed by legal counsel on both sides and the rigour with which courts come to verdicts.
Abhishek Singhvi is one of India’s top lawyers, a man who has fought some of the country’s most important – and dramatic – legal battles. In this fascinating book, he talks about the most important cases he fought – and the bigger questions of law and justice they pose. From the Sabarimala temple case (he argued against the right of women to worship there) to Cyrus Mistry against Tata Sons, the cases in this book touch on issues of free speech, custodial torture, the right to fly the Indian flag, animal rights and state elections. Simply written for the general reader and full of insights, From the Trenches is a book by a legendary lawyer that will both entertain and teach you about law and the judiciary.
Law & Ease of Doing Business: India has been constantly improving its record on the measuring yardstick of ease of doing business. That being said there is a lot that still remains to be done. For example, India incurs a large cost every year because of delays in major infrastructure projects and the legal complexities associated with such delays. The presence of an effective arbitration and mediation mechanism can reduce the legal pressures that businesses in India face leading to monetary loss and contractual delays. The Union Government has taken steps to make India a hub for arbitration matters. Questions that need to be addressed include what measures can be taken to ensure that that India’s domestic arbitration environment becomes robust and how can institutional arbitration and mediation mechanisms in India be strengthened to enhance the ease of doing business.
India is looking majorly at infrastructure building to meet its growth targets. The recent Union budget spells this out clearly and there is a very high degree of focus at the Center with the announcement of PM Gatishakti. What has been seen thus far is that there are huge time and cost overruns in existing projects. The average cost overrun for time delayed projects is upwards of forty percent.
In 2014, India was ranked 142 out of 190 countries in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Rankings. Since then, India has catapulted 79 positions to 63 in the 2020 rankings. The World Bank credited this mercurial rise to India’s major policy reforms including the creation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 and the removal of red-tapeism in starting obtaining permits.
India has been constantly improving its record on the measuring yardstick of ease of doing business. That being said there is a lot that still remains to be done. For example, India incurs a large cost every year because of delays in major infrastructure projects and the legal complexities associated with such delays. The presence of an effective arbitration and mediation mechanism can reduce the legal pressures that businesses in India face leading to monetary loss and contractual delays.
It is felt that the IBC has been a game changer in the realm of economic legislations. Five years into its introduction, the IBC is a well-oiled apparatus, with a thriving ecosystem comprising of about 3500 Insolvency Professionals, three Insolvency Professional Agencies, about 80 Insolvency Professional Entities, one Information Utility, 16 Registered Valuer Organisations, more than 3900 Registered Valuers, several benches of the Adjudicating Authority with pan India presence and a massive volume of jurisprudence that has facilitated the cause of the Code time and again.
Dr Lalit Bhasin started his law practice in 1962 and has developed Bhasin & Co as one of the largest law Firms in North India. His areas of specialisation include Employment & Labour Laws, Corporate Law (Formation of Joint Venture Companies, Foreign Collaborations, Amalgamations, Mergers, Acquisitions, Disinvestment); Laws relating to Information Technology; Contract and Conveyancing; Constitutional Law; Banking and Finance; Consumer Protection Laws; Disputes relating to Foreign Investment e.g. Shareholders Agreements, Collaboration Agreements, Agency and Distribution Agreements, Technology Transfer Agreements and Dispute Resolution Practice.
Digital Economy & Law: The Government of India has set a target to achieve a $5 trillion digital economy by 2025. The growth in constituent sectors of the digital economy such as online payments, fintech, social media, cryptocurrencies and gaming has been exponential in recent times. The rise of these sectors also presents new and complex legal challenges. Some fundamental questions need to be answered to engineer consensus on how can law tackle the complexities presented by these new-age businesses and commercial activities. There is a need to discuss what can be the limits of The Union Government while legislating on businesses that operate primarily in the realm of technology? Are the IT act and Data protection bill sufficiently equipped to deal with the challenges presented by the omnipresence of technology?
Whatever direction cryptocurrency takes in the future, it simply isn’t going away on its own and needs to be addressed. Regulation seems like a suitable choice but how will it be regulated & what legal implications will it have? Time is running out for India to make a decision on wanting to take global leadership in one of the the fastest growing industry segments, which already has a market-cap of over $2 trillion globally. The Government of India has set a target of achieving $1 trillion digital economy by 2025 and the growth in constituent sectors of the digital economy such as online payments, fintech, social media, cryptocurrencies and gaming has certainly helped in our march towards this impressive goal. However, the regulatory dithering is costing India its position in the race for market leadership in cryptocurrency and it could also result in a loss of opportunity to welcome crypto wealth-creators who are rushing to Singapore, Dubai and London in search for stable policy ecosystems.
Climate Change and Law: India potentially faces severe impact of climate change in terms of rising sea levels and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. The poor and the marginalised will bear the harshest brunt of climate change events leading to financial and livelihood loss. India does not have dedicated climate change legislation currently. Taking cognisance of this threat, Govt. of India and industry alike have made strong commitments to clean energy. The recently announced Green Carbon policy is a significant step towards India’s vision of becoming carbon neutral by 2070. Complimenting the governments vision are significant investments in green carbon announced by India’s leading business conglomerates. These significant developments raise some key questions that need to be discussed: Are the existing laws dealing with different aspects of climate change comprehensive enough to deal with the emerging realities. If not, what does the future of climate change legislation in India look like?
Post COP26, the focus on energy transition and the path to net-zero has intensified. The panellists are invited to discuss their views in the context of global energy transition from fossil-based fuels to renewable/new energy sources and its implications on the future of international and domestic arbitration.
Climate Scientists have proclaimed that global warming must be restricted to 1.5 degrees. In order to achieve the same, the global economy, as a whole has to become net zero and at the earliest. Though a number of countries have set the goal of becoming net zero by 2050, the real challenge lies in crafting feasible pathways for getting to net zero.