The Bench and the Bar

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas acted as legal counsel to the US’ LyondellBasell Group in its acquisition of the chemical business of Aurangabad-based company SJS Plastiblends, which was advised by Economic Laws Practice (ELP).

The acquisition signed on 7 August involves transfer of the whole business of manufacturing, distribution and sales of polypropylene compounds conducted by SJS Plastiblends, as reported by the Economic Times and others.

The Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas was led by Mumbai-based corporate partners Vandana Shroff and Anshuman Jaiswal, assisted by New Delhi-based tax partner SR Patnaik and competition law advice by Mumbai-based competition partner Nisha Kaur Uberoi.

KPMG acted as financial advisors to the LyondellBasell Group.

SJS Plastiblends Private Limited was advised by ELP associate partner Amit Manubarwala, with Singhi Advisors acting as its financial advisors.

New York Stock Exchange listed LyondellBasell is one of the world’s largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies and has an existing India presence.

Parliament faced record-low levels of productivity this session, with mainly the Delhi pecuniary jurisdiction bill and cheque bouncing bill squeezing through.

Erstwhile Amarchand Mangaldas, the law firm that split in May into Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, is the only Indian law firm that made it into a top 20 index of Asia Pacific law firm brands published this year.

Economic Laws Practice (ELP) has moved to a new office in New Delhi, near Connaught Place.

As the oral submissions in the Union of India vs V Sriharan @ Murugan matter concluded on Wednesday (August 12) in the Supreme Court, it became obvious that the Rajasthan government chose to adopt the submissions of other State Governments who have, by and large, opposed the Union of India’s plea for restricting the state governments’ power under the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC ) to remit life sentences.

The Bombay high court has ruled for Nestle India’s Maggi noodles today, quipping: “Even though it’s a 2-minute noodles, it took us a lot of time.”

The Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Ltd (MSEI), formerly known as MCX Stock Exchange Ltd (MCX-SX), has raised Rs 75 crore (750 mn) by issuing equity shares to its existing shareholders, according to a [http://www.msei.in/SX-Content/Press-Release/2015/July/PR-ENGLISH-08-JUL-2015

The Indian government has filed a Rs 640 crore class action on behalf of consumers with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) against Nestle India under section 12(1D) of the Consumer Protection Act.

On yesterday’s penultimate day of hearing of Union of India vs V Sriharan @ Murugan, the battle lines were clearly drawn between the Central Government and the State Governments, most of whom are listed as respondents in this case.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Madan Lokur has transferred to the Delhi high court the four-year old Rs 50 crore defamation suit by the Delhi-based Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) that was filed in Silchar, Assam, which had in 2011 passed an injunction against the Delhi-based publisher of The Caravan magazine for a hard-hitting profile of its founder Arindam Chaudhuri.

The Indian Express and others reported:

The Bombay HC granted anticipatory bail to activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand booked by the CBI under the FCRA for allegedly collecting foreign funds.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar observed there was no need of custodial interrogation. “Prima facie, I am of the view, their (prosecution) case is based on accounts and documents… If the accounts are not maintained, the prosecution is free to frame charges and proceed,” said Justice Bhatkar.

Senior counsel Aspi Chinoy and Mihir Desai appeared for Setalvad and Anand, while state advocate general Anil Singh argued for the CBI.