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Introduction to Mergers & Acquisitions of Companies in India

Where could I do a certificate course in company Mergers and Acquisitions laws?

You can do certificate course in merger and acquisition law from https://edu.lawjc.com/product/certificate-in-mergers-and-acquisitions-and-the-law/


How a law course in mergers and acquisitions can help me?

A law course in mergers and acquisitions can help you by:
  1. Providing you better chances in securing corporate jobs
  2. Dealing with corporate clients for their works pertaining to M & A 
 

Career in Mergers and Acquisitions:

Ø  Corporate Lawyer

Ø  Counsel / Attorney

 

Closely Associated Professionals:

Ø  CAs

 

Relevance of CAs and Lawyers regarding M & A

CAs and lawyers both are involved in M & A to who the clients resort. While CAs are more concerned with accountancy, lawyers are more concerned with court presentations.

 

Mergers and Acquisitions law n India



What are corporate mergers?

Mergers

Merger is amalgamation of 2 or more business entities which may have any business constitution like partnership, or company such that the owners of the old entities are now owners of the newly formed entity after the combination or amalgamation of the former entities. E.g.:

1.        PVR - INOX Merger

2.        HDFC LTD - HDFC BANK Merger

3.        Microsoft - Activision Blizzard

4.        Moj - MX TakaTak

 

 What are the different types of company mergers?

Types of Mergers

q  Vertical Merger: Involved parties / businesses involved in same type production but at different stages. E.g. Merger between Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited Ltd. (ZEEL), a broadcaster, and Dish TV India Limited, a distribution platform operator is an example of vertical merger where both the entities are at different stages of the production / supply chain.


q  Horizontal Merger: Parties / Businesses are in same line of business and may be competitors. E.g. Merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular Limited, 2 telecommunication companies.


q  Congeneric Merger: A merger between two parties that are somehow related to each other with no mutual buyer or supplier relationship. E.g. Merger between Thomas Cook India Limited and Sterling Holiday Resorts (India) Limited is an example of a congeneric merger as both the companies were involved in the tourism industry but their customer-bases and process chains were unrelated.


q  Conglomerate Merger: Parties operate in different lines of businesses.


q  Cash Mergers: A kind of merger where shareholders get cash instead of shares of the merged entity.


q  Forward Mergers: When an organization decides to merge with its buyers.


q  Reverse Mergers: When an entity decided to merge with its suppliers of raw material.


q Market-extension merger
A market-extension merger is a merger between companies that sell the same products or services but operate in different markets. The object of a market-extension merger is to gain access to a larger market and thus ensure a larger customer base. E.g. Merger between Mittal Steel and Arcelor Steel, a Luxembourg-based steel company, is an instance of market-extension merger.


q Product-extension merger
A product-extension merger is a merger between companies that sell related products or services and operate in the same market. It is notable that the products and services of the merging companies are not the same, but they are relevant. E.g. This type of merger is not prominently visible in India. However, a classic example of such merger is PepsiCo's merger with Pizza Hut. Both companies worked in the same sector i.e., food and beverages industry, and sold related but not the same products.

                       

 What are acquisitions?

Acquisitions

Under acquisition, a company acquires other company or companies and the previous company is now known by the name of the company which has acquired it.

The company which acquires is called acquiror and the company that acquires is called acquiree. E.g.:

1.        Elon Musk - Twitter

2.        Tata Group - Air India

3.        Adani Group - NDTV

4.        Zomato - Blinkit

 

 

 What are the purposes of Mergers and Acquisitions?

Objectives of M & A

q  Growth: Growth obviously takes place due to any merger or acquisition due to increased business of the uniting companies.

q  Market Exploitation: The resulting market can be exploited due to fewer operators who may be in a position like monopoly.

q  Acquiring Specific Factors: There may be specific factors like skilled employees, patent technologies, copyrights, etc. including goodwill of the merging companies or the acquired company.

q Tax: M&A can sometimes lead to tax benefits if the target company is in a strategic industry or a country with a favorable tax regime. Further, acquiring a company with net tax losses enables the acquiring company to use the tax losses to lower its tax liability.

q  Govt. Policies Compliance: Sometimes government policies may require merger mandatorily (e.g. Government imposing additional duty of certain types of companies and such company may acquire or merge with company which already carries out such duties and already possess a setup for it) or may be voluntarily to secure certain benefits (e.g. There may be a lower limit on turnover for applying for some governmental benefits and when entities get together may be in a position to create cumulative turnover to satisfy the requirement.)

q  Diversification: To diversify into other field or segments of the same field requires a lot of factors of production to be accumulated which is time consuming and may create competition. This situation is easily overcome by merger or acquisition.

           

 

M & A   vs   Partnership & JV

Stage: M & As can only be at a later stage while Partnership and JVs can be since inception.

Ease: M & As are harder to carry out while Partnerships and JVs are much easier to establish.

Joint ventures do not give rise to a fully distinct entity as JV is only for a specific time period or for some specific purpose of the whole entity and not all objectives of the entities forming JV. The entire entities do not become one. So, in case where the entities do not wish to become 1 may form a JV temporarily and who wish to become with a newer company existence may resort to merger or acquisition.

 

 

 

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Public Servants be Prosecuted without Sanction u/s 197 CrPC



Relevant constitutional court rulings pertaining Section 197 of Cr.P.C. is quoted as under:-

1. The Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Bakhshish Singh Brar Vs. Gurmej Kaur and another reported in (1987) 4 SCC 663 has held as under :-

    "6.........It is necessary to protect the public servants in the discharge of their duties. They must be made immune from being harassed in criminal proceedings and prosecution, that is the rationale behind Section. 196 and 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code. But it is equally important that rights of the citizens should be protected and no excesses should be permitted. "Encounter death" has become too common. In the facts and circumstances of each case protection of public officers and public servants functioning in discharge of official duties and protection of private citizens have to be balanced by finding out as to to what extent and how far is a public servant working in discharge of his duties or purported discharge of his duties, and whether the public servant has exceeded his limit." 


2. That further in another case Prakash Singh Badal Vs. State of Punjab reported in 2007(1) SCC 1 the Hon'ble Apex Court has also held as under:-

    "20..  The principle of immunity protects all acts which the public servant has to perform in the exercise of the functions of the Government. The purpose for which they are performed protects these acts from criminal prosecution. However, there is an exception. Where a criminal act is performed under the colour of authority but which in reality is for the public servant's own pleasure or benefit then such acts shall not be protected under the doctrine of State immunity." 


3. The Hon'ble Apex Court in the Case of Subramanian Swamy Vs. Manmohan Singh and Another reported in (2012) 3 SCC 64 the Hon'ble Apex Court has held as under :-

    "74......................Public servants are treated as a special class of persons enjoying the said protection so that they can perform their duties without fear and favour and without threats of malicious prosecution. However, the said protection against malicious prosecution which was extended in public interest cannot become a shield to protect corrupt officials. These provisions being exceptions to the equality provision of Article 14 are analogous to provisions of protective discrimination and these protections must be construed very narrowly. These procedural provisions relating to sanction must be construed in such a manner as to advance the causes of honesty and justice and good governance as opposed to escalation of corruption." 


4. That on careful reading of the above cited judgments of the Hon'ble Apex Court it is manifested that Section 197 of the Cr.P.C. intends to protect public servant from harassment. It protects public servant from any offence alleged to have been committed by him while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duties. Further, its operation has to be limited to those duties which are discharged in the course of their duties and once any act or omission found to have been committed by any public servant in the discharge of their duties, then it must only be given liberal and vide construction, so far its official nature is concerned.


5. Further, in the Case of Inspector of Police and Another Vs. Battenapatla Venkata Ratnam and Another reported in (2015) 13 SCC 87 the Hon'ble Apex Court while reiterating the judgment in the case of Sambhoo Nath Mishra Vs. State of U.P. and others reported in (1997) 5 SCC 326 and Rajib Ranjan and others Vs. R. Vijaykumar reported in (2015) 1 SCC 513 in paras 9 and 11 has held as under:-


    "9..  In a recent decision in Rajib Ranjan and others v. R. Vijaykumar (2015) 1 SCC 513, at para 18, this Court has taken the view that "18........ even while discharging his official duties, if a public servant enters into a criminal conspiracy or indulges in criminal misconduct, such misdemeanour on his part is not to be treated as an act in discharge of his official duties and, therefore, provisions of Section 197 of the Code will not be attracted". 


6. That the clearly evident on the very face of record presented to this hon'ble court the alleged indulgence of the police officers in cheating, fabrication of records cannot be said to be in discharge of their official duty. Their official duty is not to fabricate records.


7. That further, the Supreme Court in case of State of Uttar Pradesh Vs. Paras Nath Singh {(2009) 6 SCC 372} has examined the expression discharge of official duty. It further reiterated the case of B. Saha V. M.S. Kochar {(1979) 4 SCC 177} wherein it is held as under:


    "6.. XXX XXX XXX 


    11.. Such being the nature of the provision, the question is how should the expression, 'any offence alleged to have been committed by him while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duty', be understood? What does it mean? 'Official' according to dictionary, means pertaining to an office, and official act or official duty means an act or duty done by an officer in his official capacity. In B. Saha and Ors. v. M. S. Kochar (1979 (4) SCC 


    177) it was held: (SCC pp. 184-85 para 17) 


    17.. The words 'any offence alleged to have been committed by him while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duty' employed in Section 197(1) of the Code, are capable of a narrow as well as a wide interpretation. If these words are construed too narrowly, the section will be rendered altogether sterile, for, 'it is no part of an official duty to commit an offence, and never can be'. In the wider sense, these words will take under their umbrella every act constituting an offence, committed in the course of the same transaction in which the official duty is performed or purports to be performed. The right approach to the import of these words lies between two extremes. While on the one hand, it is not every offence committed by a public servant while engaged in the performance of his official duty, which is entitled to the protection of Section 197(1), an Act constituting an offence, directly and reasonably connected with his official duty will require sanction for prosecution and the said provision."(emphasis in original) Use of the expression 'official duty' implies that the act or omission must have been done by the public servant in the course of his service and that it should have been in discharge of his duty. The Section does not extend its protective cover to every act or omission done by a public servant in service but restricts its scope of operation to only those acts or omissions which are done by a public servant in discharge of his official duty." 


15.. The Court further reiterated the view taken in the cases of State of Kerala Vs. V. Padmanabhan Nair {(1999) 5 SCC 690}, Amrik Singh V. State of Pepsu (AIR 1955 SC 309) and Shreekantiah Ramayya Munipalli V. State of Bombay (AIR 1955 SC 287) and has held that the offence under Sections 467, 468 and 471 IPC relate to forgery of valuable security, Will etc; forgery for purpose of cheating and using as genuine a forged document respectively. It is no part of the duty of a public servant while discharging his official duties to commit forgery of the type covered by the aforesaid offences. Want of sanction under Section 197 of the Code is, therefore, no bar.


8. Further in the case of Prakash Singh Badal (supra) in the context of Section 420, 467, 468, 471& 120-B, the court has laid down the principle about necessity of sanction under section 197 of Cr.P.C.


    "The offence of cheating under Section 420 or for that matter offences relatable to Sections 467, 468, 471 and 120B can by no stretch of imagination by their very nature be regarded as having been committed by any public servant while acting or purporting to act in discharge of official duty. In such cases, official status only provides an opportunity for commission of the offence." 


9. hat in the case of Devinder Singh & others Vs. State of Punjab {(2016) 12 SCC 87} it has laid down the principle as under:


    "39.. The principles emerging from the aforesaid decisions are summarized hereunder : 


    39.1. Protection of sanction is an assurance to an honest and sincere officer to perform his duty honestly and to the best of his ability to further public duty. However, authority cannot be camouflaged to commit crime. 


    39.2 Once act or omission has been found to have been committed by public servant in discharging his duty it must be given liberal and wide construction so far its official nature is concerned. Public servant is not entitled to indulge in criminal activities. To that extent Section 197 CrPC has to be construed narrowly and in a restricted manner. 39.3 Even in facts of a case when public servant has exceeded in his duty, if there is reasonable connection it will not deprive him of protection under section 197 Cr.P.C. There cannot be a universal rule to determine whether there is reasonable nexus between the act done and official duty nor it is possible to lay down such rule. 


    39.4 In case the assault made is intrinsically connected with or related to performance of official duties sanction would be necessary under Section 197 CrPC, but such relation to duty should not be pretended or fanciful claim. The offence must be directly and reasonably connected with official duty to require sanction. It is no part of official duty to commit offence. In case offence was incomplete without proving, the official act, ordinarily the provisions of Section 197 CrPC would apply. 


    39.5 In case sanction is necessary it has to be decided by competent authority and sanction has to be issued on the basis of sound objective assessment. The court is not to be a sanctioning authority. 


    39.6 Ordinarily, question of sanction should be dealt with at the stage of taking cognizance, but if the cognizance is taken erroneously and the same comes to the notice of Court at a later stage, finding to that effect is permissible and such a plea can be taken first time before appellate Court. It may arise at inception itself. There is no requirement that accused must wait till charges are framed. 39.7. Question of sanction can be raised at the time of framing of charge and it can be decided prima facie on the basis of accusation. It is open to decide it afresh in light of evidence adduced after conclusion of trial or at other appropriate stage. 

39.8. Question of sanction may arise at any stage of proceedings. On a police or judicial inquiry or in course of evidence during trial. Whether sanction is necessary or not may have to be determined from stage to stage and material brought on record depending upon facts of each case. Question of sanction can be considered at any stage of the proceedings. Necessity for sanction may reveal itself in the course of the progress of the case and it would be open to accused to place material during the course of trial for showing what his duty was. The accused has the right to lead evidence in support of his case on merits. 


10. That after reading of the above, it is found that if the allegation against the public servant is for the offence of cheating, fabrication, misappropriation of record and also it allegation of criminal conspiracy are leveled then there is no need of sanction at earlier stage and it could be taken up at the stage of trial. 

















 

How to draft Written Arguments under Criminal Revision, in India?


How to draft an application for change of contents in a petition, in India?


 Draft of Criminal Revision Written Arguments in Sessions Court in India

Infographics showing criminal revision


 

Before The Hon’ble Sessions Court

In the matter of

___________________

________________________, India 

Vs

Dr. _______ & Othrs.

Criminal Revision Petition No. ___ of 20__ . In CC No. ____ of 20__


Documented Arguments and Application

Latest Known Particulars of the Opposite Parties:

1. Dr. ______ (Addl. SP, STF, ID No. ______)

___________________________________________

2. Ravi _______ (SP, ________)

O/o The Superintendent of Police,_________ District

3. ______

__________________________

4. The State of _______

 

 

 In the matter as above, the petitioner prays to file documented arguments as follows including an application (clause no. 7 of this document) to revise the relief sought from this hon’ble court in the aforesaid matter.

The petitioner prays to state:

1. That the petitioner submitted talwana to the registry which informed that all the 3 accused have been sent court’s notice via ordinary post.

 

2. The petitioner submitted another talwana 2nd time, about which registry told that court’s summon has been sent to them by najarat at their original addresses at ____. However, the petitioner sent the same notice through registered post on his part which got returned.

 

3. That the petitioner submitted another talwana 3rd time and the

 

 

 

accused no. 1 and 2 received the court’s notice at their current addresses. However, petitioner is not aware of the status of the court’s notice to the accused no. 3.

 

4. That the last point of formal response from the accused no. 3 was through ______ police station so the petitioner filed talwana and as informed by the registry, 2nd notice by this hon’ble court (as cited in point no. 2 above) sent through najarat was received at that address, whose police officials first contacted and responded on the complaint against the accused no. 3.

 

5. That all the incidents took place in _____. The victimized petitioner had always been in _____ during the incidents, made complaints to all authorities viz. National Human Rights Commission, State Human Rights Commission, IGRS portal, PMO portal, etc. while being in _____ and using the ____ address

 

 

 

only, received threats while being in ______ on phone with his location in _____, received all forged documents i.e. bogus police reports by the accused no. 1 and 2 while being in ______.

The petitioner never knew where the accused no. 3 actually was during incident while making threatening calls on behalf of the accused no. 1. It is only assumption that accused no. 3 was in _____ as he sometime told that his address was ____, while the person can be anywhere in the world while making calls to anyone.

Similarly, to the victimized petitioner, accused no 1 and 2 are only stating that they were posted in ________, but while creating the forged police documents they could be at any place as the reports were submitted by them online only. But the victim accessed the reports on IGRS portal while being in _____ only.

 

6. That all the police personnel who stated on the IGRS portal viz.

 

 

 

Athar(subordinate of accused no.1) and local ______ police (on

whose response the forged report of accused no. 1 is based, as he himself stated) that the address of the complainant does not exist must have been in ______ for verification to state so.

 

7. Nowhere in the complaint petition to the Hon’ble CJM court it was mentioned that incident took place in ______ while it is only that the local police appears to have cunningly furnished such report to the CJM court in favoritism or alignment with the accused no. 1 and 2 working within the same department. Thus, the impugned order of the Hon’ble CJM court is based only on the local police fake report or the local police mis-guidance that lead to (and combined with) an illusive impression of the incident having taken place at ______ only by assuming the introduction of the accused no. 3 who first met the petitioner in ________ when he used to state that he lived in __________, which was during the year 20__ to 20__.


 

The local police report says that the incident took place when the complainant was working with accused no. 3 in _________, which was actually during 2008-2010 only, while the incident started since the year 20__ onwards.

It is also not known whether accused no. 1 and 2 were in ______ during 2008-2010. So it is only the year 2017 and thereafter when the incident is taking place and during this time complainant has been in ______ only.

 

8. That the notice sent by this hon’ble court to the accused no. 1, 2

and 3 through ordinary post and najarat the 1st and  2nd time (as cited in points 1 and 2 above) at their _________ addresses be taken on record.

 

9. That this hon’ble court may kindly expedite the process of issuing the final order in view of the threats faced by the petitioner from  

 the accused.

 

10. That kindly consider the prayer of relief sought as asked in this criminal revision petition no. ___ of 20__ to as:

i. That this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to Quash and set aside the order under revision.

ii. That the case be remanded to trial court for further evidence in accordance with law while stating that the cause of incident is ___ and only _____ jurisdiction is applicable so that the petitioner is enabled with a facility to act for lodging an FIR or a complaint (u/s 200) against the accused nos. 1, 2 and 3 according to the applicable CrPC procedures.

ii. Any other relief as this hon’ble court deems appropriate.

 

                                                                                                                         Yours faithfully,

 


Date:    /   /202_                                                                     Petitioner 









Drafting of Written Arguments under Criminal Revision in India

Drafting an application for change of contents in a petition in India

Sample Draft, Draft Specimen, Draft Example

 How to Draft Commercial Contract?

Following explains everything about contract drafting in India:


What does it mean to enter into a contract?

When you sign the contract, you write down the terms of the contract. A contract is a legally binding agreement between the parties. The document describes the rights and obligations governed by the contract. Although you can enter into a contract through written or oral agreements, contract drafting usually refers to written contracts. The parties may go through various proposals and negotiate several times before concluding a contract. The purpose of creating a contract is to create a legally binding document that is as close as possible to all interested parties, so that the document is concise and clear.

Terms and Conditions

While the details of each individual contract vary, when drafting a contract it must include some important information in order to be valid and legally binding. First, any contract must have competent parties as part of the agreement with a mentally retarded person or a minor who cannot legally sign a valid contract. The document itself must then have:

·         Lawful Object

·         Consideration

·         Offer

·         Acceptance

A contract must include a valid offer and acceptance between the parties to be legally binding. E.g. a machine sale includes one party selling the machine and the other party agreeing to buy it, and hence mutual assent.

 

Infographics on Drafting of Commercial contract

Consideration

A contract must include adequate consideration to be enforceable. E.g. In employment contracts, one party agrees to complete job duties while the other agrees to pay a specified amount.

Consideration is a bargained-for promise. The promise cannot be illegal, nor can it be something a party is legally obligated to do already. Instances of consideration include:

  • Action
  • Money
  • Property, including intellectual property

 

Legality

You also must consider legality when you draft a contract. Legality is whether a contract meets all jurisdictional requirements. For instance, a provision of a contract may be legal in one state and not another.

What is a Draft Contract / Contract Draft?

A draft contract is just draft of an agreement that has not final yet. The parties have not yet agreed on the exact terms and wording used in the draft.


How to Draft a Contract?

Creating an effective contract requires a multi-step process. The most important steps include:

1.    Determine if all parties can participate: All parties to the agreement must be considered capable of making the contract valid. You cannot force or coerce anyone to sign a contract. In most situations, the parties must be over 18 years of age to enter into a contract. The parties to the contract must always be mentally healthy when signing the contract, even under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

2.    Establish the terms of the contract: The terms of the contract should ensure that both parties achieve the desired outcome of the agreement. You should make an agreement in good faith, not attempt a scam. It is best to put the terms of the contract in writing, not verbally. Having a written record of the contract can make it easier to enforce that contract.

3.    Specify consideration: For a contract to be effective, you must clearly state the elements of consideration. Remember that consideration is the exchange of an item such as intellectual property, services, goods, or a promise to exchange compensation. A contract cannot exist without consideration.

4.    Decide if you want to use a confidentiality clause: Confidentiality agreements are useful if your contract contains trade secrets or other confidential information. By including a confidentiality clause, you can ensure that sensitive information remains secure. Anyone who violates a nondisclosure agreement is considered a breach of contract.

5.    Include a Dispute Resolution Clause: A dispute resolution clause describes how the parties will deal with a breach of contract. This may include the party responsible for paying attorneys' fees and whether the parties resort to arbitration or litigation. If the parties choose to litigate, this clause must also include the jurisdiction in which the breach is to be resolved.

6.    Include a termination clause: When signing the contract, state the length of the contract. Your contract should also include any steps either party can take that lead to early termination. Contracts for ongoing services may also contain a provision that allows prior notice without reason. Thirty days notice as usual.

7.    Ensure that the contract complies with all applicable laws: You must ensure that your contract is drafted in accordance with all applicable laws. If you don't, your contract will end up being unenforceable. You can include the jurisdiction your contract should be interpreted in to make this clear.

Ensure the contract follows industry and other specific requirements: Many contracts also require additional clauses pertaining to the specific business or personal situations the contract covers.

8.    Offer the contract for acceptance: After you write the contract, you need to offer it to the other party for consideration. The other party can accept the contract as is and proceed to the final step of signing. If they don't accept the contract, they can make a counter offer instead.

9.    Negotiate the terms of the contract: If the other party makes a counteroffer to your original proposal, you can accept that counteroffer or provide your own counteroffer in return. These exchanges of offers can go on and on until both parties agree on everything. Be sure to review the contract after each counteroffer to make sure you understand any changes made.

10.                       Signing the contract: Once both parties have agreed on the final offer, the parties must sign and date the document. The contract can only be legally binding at this point. Both parties must obtain a copy of the contract to keep for their records.

Remember that when drafting the contract, you must reserve the last page of the contract for signature and date.

The contract is not considered effective unless signed and dated by both parties. In addition, both parties must understand all the details before signing the contract.

If either party does not understand a part of the contract, they should consult an attorney before signing.

Contracts usually contain specific legal terms, so it is also important to include all relevant clauses and required verbatim.

 

Other common terms & conditions include:

  • Force majeure
  • Indemnification
  • Warranties
  • Liquidated damages clauses
  • Time is of the essence clauses
  • Choice of law and forum selection

 

Why Should You Draft a Contract?

Even if you enter into a simple agreement, it is usually in your best interest to have a written contract. Although an oral technical agreement is as enforceable as a written contract, it is more difficult (and therefore more expensive) to prove that an oral contract exists. Thus, a written agreement is less risky than an oral agreement because it creates a document that clearly specifies the obligations and rights of both parties in the event of a mistake or a crime.

Requirements for written contracts may vary depending on the state in which you live or do business, and different types of contracts also require different formalities. 

Working with a qualified attorney before drafting a contract will help ensure that your contract contains all the necessary clauses, terms, and details required by your jurisdiction, industry, etc.

 

Why should I register a contract?

Currently, in many countries around the world, laws do not explicitly state that all contracts must be registered in order to be legally enforceable and identifiable; however, if one party is the victim of default by the other party/parties, it may be more tedious for the victim to prove the legality, binding and validity of the contract. 

In addition, there are also applications of different laws on the same subject, which can cause confusion if contracts need to be registered differently.

 

For example, in India, the Indian Contract Act 1872 states that all agreements, oral or written, are valid if and when:

created with the free consent of the parties to such contract;

the consideration in question has a legal nature

concerns a legal matter.

The Indian Contract Act, 1872 mentions the registration or stamping of any contract. However, the provisions of the Registration Act 1908 list the documents that must be registered in order to be legally identifiable and enforceable by a court. These include: deeds relating to immovable property (deed of sale, lease, deed of gift). certificate etc.), movable property instruments worth Rs. 100 or more and so on.

Moreover, the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 clearly states that documents like power of attorney (other than power of attorney to sell immovable property), development agreement etc. must be executed on a paper stamp but not registered for it. be legally enforceable.

Such a provision creates a kind of ambiguity as to what types of contracts require mandatory registration or are not required to be legally enforceable in the eyes of the law. It is therefore recommended that the parties register their contracts if they are to avoid ambiguous and unnecessary difficulties and/or losses and/or costs of litigation that may arise in the long run.

The person reviewing the contract must also understand the importance of contract registration. If the review of the contract is done by pre-registration, then one needs to understand the importance of each clause and how changing/altering undesirable terms can save the parties a lot of inconvenience and expense.

 If the review occurs after registration, it will help the reviewer understand the weight of the clauses attached to the contract and how the clauses will affect both parties, especially under situation of dispute.

Infographics on the Basic Process of Contract Drafting

 

What is the Basic Process of Contract Drafting?

Firstly, the person drafting/reviewing the contract must attain the knowledge of the purpose of making the contract.

One must understand what the subject and object of the contract is and what is the role played by the parties in achieving the desired subject/object.

The contract must include the right and duties that the parties to the contract have in relation to one another. Each of the parties is there to fulfill a particular purpose and such purpose and role must be easily and clearly understood while drafting as well as reviewing the contract.

 

Secondly, the feasibility of the contract must be kept in mind - whether the terms and conditions given in the contract are capable of being carried out; whether the parties to the contract are capable of executing their rights and duties; which party/parties gain most and which one takes upon most of the liability during the tenure of the contract; et cetera. Such questions need to be answered in order to determine the feasibility of a contract.

 

Thirdly, one must be able to predict the issues and/or problems and/or disputes that may arise out of the contract in future scenarios. The person drafting as well as the person reviewing the contract must be able to understand what terms and clauses may give rise to a risk which may cause disputes and/or losses between the parties in the future. 

t must also be understood which clauses hold the loopholes in the contract and the possible permutation of ways in which such loopholes may later be exploited by the parties to the contract (Boilerplate clauses are often used to cleverly create and cover such loopholes).

 

What are the Terms and Clauses in Contract?

There are certain basic terms and clauses that are very general and basic in nature. Such clauses form a part of every type of contract document.

 

The following are a few of such clauses:

   1.    Subject and its Legality: The 1st and foremost point to begin the drafting of an agreement is to determine the subject of the contract is. The subject of the contract will determine its nature. The subject will also determine if the contract will be legally enforceable or not.

While reviewing an agreement, this is the first point that one must look at. Many cases are lost and won simply by stating that the subject to a contract is not considered to be legal in the eyes of the prevalent laws.

 

   2.    Definition Clause: Each and every contract must copntain definition clause. Such clause contains all the definitions to various words that are used throughout the contract, aka glossary. Certain words holding a general meaning may be usable throughout the contract, but the contract may contain a definition of such word which might describe the meaning of such word specifically in relation to the specific contract. In such case, no different meaning of the word will be accepted as the word has been specifically stated and agreed upon by the parties to the contract and, as such, and binding on them.

 

   3.    Tenure of the Contract: Contracts are generally made for a specific time period, no matter how long the time frame it is. The term consists of a specifically stated time period during which the relationship between the parties will be governed by the terms of such contract. Once the time period expires, the contract also automatically expires.

     In many cases, the duration of contract also depends on the achieving of a certain goal for which the contract is being entered into.

     For e.g.: A and B enter into a contract that will last for such time as it takes for them to reach place X, once they will reach the place X the contract between them will expire.


   4.    Clause for Renewal of the Contract: Such clauses are inserted to relinquish the need to make different contracts from time to time. If the nature of the work and the terms stipulated in the contract is not required to be changed for a long period of time. A renewal clause can be inserted to ensure continual binding effect of the contract without incurring the expenses of drafting and registering different contracts over and over again. This also eliminates the time lag that may be caused due to waiting period until the fresh contract document is created. Such clauses are often included in the clause describing the term of the contract.

 

   5.    Consideration Amount and Legality: Another important clause in a contract is the clause stating the amount or the type of consideration. It states the consideration amount that one or more parties must pay to the other party / parties for services rendered done or goods produced by the latter ones.

 

   6.    Such consideration must always be legal in nature: The consideration must be paid through an instrument or object that is legally recognized by the law in force. A consideration paid through an illegal object will render the entire contract to be void and have no legal enforceability.

 

   7.    Inspection of products and goods: This clause helps the parties to safeguard themselves from cases of fraud or misrepresentation which may arise due to insufficient quality of products and goods so delivered. This allows the purchaser to inspect every good so as to be sure that the good so received are of such quality as had been agreed between them.

On the other hand, it also provides a safety net to the selling party because once the quality of the good is inspected and accepted, the purchaser cannot hold the seller liable for any quality-related issues in the future.


   8.    Return/refund: This clause describes all the circumstances and scenarios in which the parties are entitled to return of the product and/or receive refund of the consideration paid for such product. This is generally used in contracts of sale of movable properties.


   9.    Terms related to cancellation of the contract: These are clauses which record the circumstances under which the contract shall stand cancelled. It generally includes certain acts that the parties are barred from and in violation of such a term, the cancellation clause will be invoked and the contract will be cancelled. It also includes the rights and liabilities that the parties of the contract will be entitled to when the contract stands cancelled.

 

   10.                       Rights and duties of the parties: Every contract must mandatorily include the clauses that enumerate the rights and duties of the parties in respect to one another. These clauses form the crux of every contract and violation of these clauses generally forms the core to the disputes that arise between the parties to the contract.

Each and every right and obligation of the parties must be specifically stated with as much detail as possible to avoid any ambiguity or vagueness whatsoever.

 

 

   11.                       Force majeure: Under the Contract laws, force majeure refers to all such unforeseeable and unpredictable scenarios and circumstances which may stop one from executing his/her duty, thereby leaving the contract unfulfilled. Force majeure clauses talk about various contingencies, including but not limited to the acts of God, and what shall be the role of such parties when such a situation may arise during the tenure of the contract.

This clause is often overlooked during the process of drafting and reviewing, nevertheless, it is as important a clause as any other as it details the sharing of expenses and costs that are incurred during the time of contingencies.


   12.                       Delegation and liability: This clause is mostly found in contracts and agreements related to manufacture and sale of movable products. The clause states what kind of work can be delegated by the parties to other third and/or unknown parties to the contract and who may be held liable for any dispute that may arise due to insufficiency or inefficiency of products and/or services provided by such third party.

 

   13.                       Payments of expenses: This clause states how the expenses incurred by virtue of the contract and throughout the tenure of the contract, shall be paid for. It states in what proportion the parties to the contract may share the expenses so incurred and what may be the mode of such payments.


   14.                       Compensation: The compensation clause states the amount with which one must compensate another for the actions/omissions/defaults done by the former which has resulted in some sort of loss (financial, physical or mental) to the latter.

   15.                       Profit sharing: Once the expenses are paid for, it is time for sharing of the profit that has been gained by virtue of the contract. The profit sharing clause states the proportion in which the profit will be shared by the parties and how a part of such profit may be used for other purposes as agreed between the parties.

   16.                       Dispute settlement and jurisdiction: This is also an important clause that one must never forget to draft and review. This clause decides as to what mode of dispute resolution or what legal recourse will be taken by the parties to the contract when a dispute arises in between the parties. In the current world almost every contract contains this clause and most of them opt for alternative dispute resolution system like arbitration, mediation, etc. to solve disputes.

Another clause which is generally included in the dispute settlement clause is the clause describing the jurisdiction in which any dispute will be resolved.

For example, many multi-national companies include a jurisdiction clause stating that any case which involves litigation may only be filed against the company in a specific city, town or area.

This clause is not seen so often in contracts that had been drafted up until a few decades ago. However, in the current system we will find compensation clauses in most of the contracts that come to us. Consumers of services and products often invoke the compensation clause on various grounds and are often awarded large sums as compensation amounts by the Courts and/or tribunal, whatever the case may be.

 

Conclusion

These are small areas that are important to creating a good contract. The inclusion of the above terms will give the reader a detailed idea of ​​what is to be achieved in the contract and what the relationship between the parties is.

In addition, any dispute between the parties can be effectively resolved if the provisions set forth herein are included in the contract. The result of all these efforts is a contract that saves a lot of time, effort and expense that would otherwise be possible.

In addition, reviewing drafted contracts is just as important as writing them. If the contract is not reviewed, the signatory party or parties may be exposed to the risk of proving terms and conditions that may be disadvantageous to them and may cause financial or emotional harm in the future.


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