Introduction Spanning from credit decisions, fraud detection, customer service, to risk management, banks and other regulated entities in India have gradually shifted their reliance on spreadsheet-based calculators to high-tech AI and machine learning systems. This transition has brought tangible efficiencies but also a new class of risk not covered by traditional banking supervision. To address…
Introduction While facial recognition technology has emerged as a critical tool for policing and infrastructural purposes in India, the technology’s use does not have a legal mechanism that is specifically designed to regulate it. While the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”) provides for a legal framework on how personal data should be…
GST Show Cause Notices: Tripura High Court on Limitation, Section 74 and Parallel Proceedings
- 2026-07-07
Introduction The Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime was conceived as a unified indirect tax regime to eliminate cascading effect of taxes, by replacing multiple central and state taxes with a single destination-based system. In practice, it operates under a dual control framework in which the Central Government and State/Union Territory authorities share administration and…
No Appointment Records, No Regularisation: Allahabad Tribunal in BSNL Casual Labour Dispute
- 2026-07-06
Introduction In Subhash v. Union of India & Others, O.A. 1077 of 2013, the Central Administrative Tribunal, Allahabad Bench has by an order dated 07.04.2026, rejected a case of regularisation, temporary position, and arrears of salary brought before the Tribunal by a claimant claiming to have continuously served as a casual worker of Bharat Sanchar…
Data Breach Notification under the DPDP Rules: What Every Fintech Must Know About Insider Breaches
- 2026-07-03
Introduction For years, India’s fintech ecosystem have seen a familiar script unfold. A customer success executive with database access exports a CSV with thousands of user profile names, PAN numbers, bank account details, loan histories. The internal security team logs the anomaly. HR silently suspends the employee. Legal counsel is in the loop. Then the…
FACTS M/s Jai Balaji Industries Ltd. (“Petitioner”), a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956, had placed several purchase orders upon Garuda Ispat Private Limited (“Respondent”) during 2016 for supply of steel materials. A dispute arose between the parties concerning quality of the material supplied and payments claimed by the Respondent. The Petitioner rejected material…
Introduction The Hon’ble Guwahati High Court in Gurucharan Kangsa Banik v. Union of India, W.P.(C) No. 2881 of 2026, decided on 03.06.2026, set aside an Order-in-Original which had denied input tax credit (“ITC”) to a bona fide purchasing dealer solely on the ground that the selling dealer had failed to deposit the tax collected from…
Introduction Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) in Azim Premji v. State of U.P. Application U/S 3261 of 2017, decided on 29.05.2024, the criminal complaint proceedings along with the summoning order and bailable warrant issued against the Chairman and Managing Director of a company for allegedly violating the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 by an independent third-party…
India’s Stablecoin Debate: How the RBI’s Digital Rupee Strategy Is Shaping the Future of Payments
- 2026-06-26
Introduction The global fintech landscape is witnessing a defining contest between privately issued stablecoins and government-backed digital currencies. Rather than following international trends, India has adopted a cautious regulatory approach centred on the Digital Rupee and long-term financial stability. The largest policy challenge of the moment is to decide on whether there should be privately…
Brief Facts An agreement for sale of iron ore was executed on 12.02.2004 between M/s Tarini Prasad Mohanty (the mine owner/appellant) and M/s Sunflag Iron and Steel Company Limited (SISCO/respondent). Supplementary agreements were also entered into subsequently. Disputes arose between the parties, and in accordance with the arbitration clause, the matter was referred to a…
Introduction Cloud regulation is no longer limited to questions of data protection and cybersecurity. Increasingly, governments are also examining who controls the infrastructure on which data is stored, processed, and accessed. Reflecting this shift, the European Commission proposed the Cloud and AI Development Act on 3 June 2026, a legislative initiative aimed at strengthening the…
Introduction Proceedings under the Customs Act rarely remain confined to the importing entity alone. In cases involving alleged concealment or misdeclaration, customs authorities often proceed not only against the firm but also against the individuals connected with the transaction. A recent decision of the Ahmedabad Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal…
Introduction An employee disappears from work without notice. The employer sends a registered letter to the address on file. No reply comes. Weeks later, the employee surfaces, claims he tried to return and was turned away, and files a complaint before the Labour Commissioner. The Labour Court awards reinstatement with full back wages. The High…
UPI Autopay and Recurring Payments: Compliance Checklist Under RBI’s E-Mandate Framework 2026
- 2026-06-19
Introduction If you have ever had a subscription auto-renew unexpectedly, a streaming service quietly debit your account, or an EMI go through without any warning, you have experienced the gap that India’s e-mandate framework was supposed to fill. That gap is now being closed. On April 21, 2026, the Reserve Bank of India issued the…
Computation of Limitation under Section 34(3) starts from disposal of Section 33 Application
- 2026-06-18
FACTS The Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways issued a preliminary notification dated 15.12.2009 under Section 3A(1) of the National Highways Act, 1956 for acquisition of land in Bellary District, which included land belonging to Respondent No. 1. By a declaration dated 14.12.2010 under Section 3D(2), the land vested in the Central Government free…
Introduction The Hon’ble Allahabad High Court in Samarpan Jain v. State of U.P. & 2 others Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. 23443 of 2025 dated 21.05.2026 quashed the FIR, charge sheet, and the order of cognizance initiated against an Advocate for being criminally accused for merely filing a statutory appeal before the GST authorities and…
Introduction Garden leave is a practice where an employee gets their salary during their notice period but they are not allowed to work join a competitor or do any business activity. This practice has become very important in employment contracts in India but its legal status is still not clear. Garden leave came from employment…
Introduction The world of payments has steadily been reducing friction over the years, starting with cash, then moving on to cards, then digital wallets, and finally the one-click payment option. Every one of these developments has made payments faster, smoother and more convenient. In each step along this path however, one underlying principle always held…
Introduction ‘Facial Recognition Technology’ has become more and more predominant in Society as technology has developed over time. We have transitioned from a period where we required a high-quality and expensive camera with an experienced photographer to take a single photo to a point where any layperson can take a photo, such was the development…
Introduction The online gaming industry in India has operated with the quiet confidence of an industry that believed it had already won its most important legal battle. The distinction between a game of skill and a game of chance had been litigated, argued, and settled in courtrooms across the country, and each time the verdict…
Rethinking Gig Worker Classification: How the 2026 ILO Negotiations Could Reshape Labour Rights
- 2026-06-08
Introduction Over the last ten years, the world has seen a huge transformation in the global economy with the explosive growth of the platform or gig economy. Millions of people around the world are now making a living with digital platforms like Uber, Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon Flex and a wide variety of other app-based service…
Introduction The NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) has entered into a strategic partnership with ACLEDA Bank Plc., that aims to implement the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in Cambodia, making it a boon for the Indian travellers in Cambodia who can now use UPI in order to make payments to businesses and retails present in the…
From Privacy Policies to System Architecture: The Supreme Court’s New Compliance Standard
- 2026-06-02
Your Privacy Policy is now Irrelevant! A strategic breakdown of the Supreme Court’s shift in “No Privacy by Design”!! On May 22, 2026, the Supreme Court quieted a massive structural debate in Pune Bar Association v. UOI. They ruled that data integrity is a matter of necessity, not convenience, making cryptographic hashing the absolute floor…
GST Refund Relief: Bombay High Court Upholds Supplementary Refund Claims Within Limitation Period
- 2026-06-02
Introduction The harmless mistake of inadvertently missing transactions whilst filing for tax refunds is a common one. The question is whether it would be possible for a taxpayer to file a later application if he or she had requested a refund for a wider tax period, without causing any procedural irregularity. The Hon’ble Bombay High…
Supreme Court Rules Contractual Appointments Against Regular Vacancies Are Unconstitutional
- 2026-06-01
Introduction In a judgement Lokendra Kumar Tiwari v. Union of India & Ors., the Supreme Court of India has reiterated the constitutional principles that apply to all processes involved in public employment and recruiting. It held that making a contractual appointment that is a result of an advertisement for a regular position or a vacancy…
Introduction Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) is quickly evolving from the traditional digital assistant into a more personal and intelligent companion for consumers. One of the most important innovations in consumer AI has just been introduced by OpenAI which is of a personal finance feature inside the ChatGPT, which enables users to connect their bank account, investments,…
The Government of India wants to turn law into code. This is bigger than automation!! MeitY is reportedly exploring “law-to-code” translating DPDPA provisions into machine executable rules so systems enforce compliance by design. The logic is sound. When AI moves at machine speed, governance cannot run at the speed of a legal opinion. A system…
Introduction The introduction of generative Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) into the mainstream digital communication platforms is rapidly changing the way we interact online. One of the latest developments in this space is Meta’s reported exploration of privacy-focused AI chat functionality using “Private Processing” technology, which may eventually be introduced across WhatsApp and the Meta AI ecosystem….
Introduction The year-end rush in GST adjudication proceedings has increasingly become a defining feature of departmental practice under Section 73 of the CGST Act. As limitation deadlines approach, taxpayers are often confronted with compressed timelines, last-minute document requisitions, and hearings fixed within days, sometimes hours, of the final adjudication order. The recent judgment of the…
Beyond Regularisation: Supreme Court on Para-Teachers, Quality Education and Constitutional Limits
- 2026-05-18
Introduction The Supreme Court’s major ruling in Sunil Kumar Yadav & Ors. v. The State of Jharkhand & Ors. has significantly impacted Indian service law by clarifying issues related to the employment of contractual staff in public service, governance of educational institutions, and limits on the ability of the judiciary to interfere in regularisation applications….
