West Bengal Shops and Establishments Act, 1963
The Company has its registered office at 1, Crooked Lane, F L-233, Kolkata-700069, West Bengal, India. Accordingly the provisions of the West Bengal Shops and Establishments Act, 1963 are applicable to the Company. These provisions regulate the conditions of work and employment in shops and commercial establishments and generally prescribe obligations in respect of inter alia registration, opening and closing hours, daily and weekly working hours, holidays, leave, health and safety measures, and wages for overtime work.
Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (“T.P. Act.”)
The transfer of property, including immovable property, between living persons, as opposed to the transfer property by operation of law, is governed by the Transfer of Property Act, 1882.The T.P. Act establishes the general principles relating to the transfer of property, including among other things, identifying the categories of property that are capable of being transferred, the persons competent to transfer property, the validity of restrictions and conditions imposed on the transfer and the creation of contingent and vested interest in the property. Transfer of property is subject to stamping and registration under the specific statutes enacted for the purposes which have been dealt with hereinafter.
The T.P. Act recognizes, among others, the following forms in which an interest in an immovable property may be transferred: • Sale: The transfer of ownership in property for a price, paid or promised to be paid.
• Mortgage: The transfer of an interest in property for the purpose of securing the payment of a loan, existing or future
debt, or performance of an engagement which gives rise to a pecuniary liability. The T.P. Act recognises several forms of mortgages over a property.
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• Charges: Transactions including the creation of security over property for payment of money to another which are not
classifiable as a mortgage. Charges can be created either by operation of law, e.g. decree of the court attaching to specified immovable property, or by an act of the parties.
• Leases: The transfer of a right to enjoy property for consideration paid or rendered periodically or on specified occasions.
• Leave and License: The transfer of a right to do something upon immovable property without creating interest in the
property.
Further, it may be noted that with regards to the transfer of any interest in a property, the transferor transfers such interest, including any incidents, in the property which he is capable of passing and under the law, he cannot transfer a better title than he himself possesses.
The Registration Act, 1908(“Registration Act”)
The Registration Act, 1908was passed to consolidate the enactments relating to the registration of documents. The main purpose for which the Registration Act was designed was to ensure information about all deals concerning land so that correct land records could be maintained. The Registration Act is used for proper recording of transactions relating to other immovable property also. The Registration Act provides for registration of other documents also, which can give these documents more authenticity. Registering authorities have been provided in all the districts for this purpose.
The Indian Stamp Act, 1899(“Stamp Act”)
Stamp duty in relation to certain specified categories of instruments as specified under Entry 91 of the list, is governed by the provisions of the IndianStamp Act,1899which is enacted by the Central Government. All others instruments are required to be stamped, as per the rates prescribed by the respective State Governments. Stamp duty is required to be paid on all the documents that are registered and as stated above the percentage of stamp duty payable varies from one state to another. Certain states in India have enacted their own legislation in relation to stamp duty while the other states have adopted and amended the Stamp Act, as per the rates applicable in the state. On such instruments stamp duty is payable at the rates specified in Schedule I of the Stamp Act.
Instruments chargeable to duty under the Stamp Act which are not duly stamped are incapable of being admitted in court as evidence of the transaction contained therein. The Stamp Act also provides for impounding of instruments which are not sufficiently stamped or not stamped at all. Unstamped and deficiently stamped instruments can be impounded by the authority and validated by payment of penalty. The amount of penalty payable on such instruments may vary from state to state.
The Indian Contract Act, 1872(“Contract Act”)
The Indian Contract Act, 1872 codifies the way in which a contract may be entered into, executed, implementation of the provisions of a contract and effects of breach of a contract. A person is free to contract on any terms he chooses. The Contract Act consists of limiting factors subject to which contract may be entered into, executed and the breach enforced. It provides a framework of rules and regulations that govern formation and performance of contract. The contracting parties themselves decide the rights and duties of parties and terms of agreement.
The Specific Relief Act, 1963(“Specific Relief Act”)
The Specific Relief Act, 1963is complimentary to the provisions of the Contract Act and the Transfer of Property Act, as the Act applies both to movable property and immovable property. The Specific Relief Act applies in cases where the Court can order specific performance of a contract. Specific relief can be granted only for purpose of enforcing individual civil rights and not for the mere purpose of enforcing a civil law. ‘Specific performance’ means Court will order the party to perform his part of agreement, instead of imposing on him any monetary liability to pay damages to other party.
Competition Act, 2002(“Competition Act”)
The Competition Act, 2002 aims to prevent anti-competitive practices that cause or are likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition in the relevant market in India. The Competition Act regulates anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position and combinations. The Competition Commission of India (“Competition Commission”) which became operational from May 20, 2009 has been established under the Competition Act to deal with inquiries relating to anti- competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position and regulate combinations.The Competition Act also provides that the
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Competition Commission has the jurisdiction to inquire into and pass orders in relation to an anti-competitive agreement, abuse of dominant position or a combination, which even though entered into, arising or taking place outside India or signed between one or more non-Indian parties, but causes an appreciable adverse effect in the relevant market in India.
The Companies Act, 1956
The Companies Act, 1956 deals with laws relating to companies and certain other associations. It was enacted by the parliament in 1956. The Act primarily regulates the formation, financing, functioning and winding up of companies. The Companies Act, 1956 prescribes regulatory mechanism regarding all relevant aspects, including organizational, financial and managerial aspects of companies. It deals with issue, allotment and transfer of securities and various aspects relating to company management. It provides for standard of disclosure in public issues of capital, particularly in the fields of company management and projects, information about other listed companies under the same management, and management perception of risk factors. In the functioning of the corporate sector, although freedom of companies is important, protection of the investors and shareholders, on whose funds they flourish, is equally important. The Companies Act, 1956 plays the balancing role between these two competing factors, namely, management autonomy and investor protection.
The Companies Act, 2013
The Companies Act, 2013, has been introduced to replace the existing Companies Act, 1956 in a phased manner. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has vide its notification dated September 12, 2013 has notified 98 Sections of the Companies Act, 2013 and the same are applicable from the date of the aforesaid notification. A further 183 Sections have been notified on March 26, 2014 and have become applicable from April 1, 2014. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, has also issued rules complementary to the Companies Act, 2013 establishing the procedure to be followed by companies in order to comply with the substantive provisions of the Companies Act, 2013.
The Trademarks Act, 1999 (“Trademarks Act”)
Under the Trademarks Act, 1999,a trademark is a mark capable of being represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one person from those of others used in relation to goods and services to indicate a connection in the course of trade between the goods and some person having the right as proprietor to use the mark. A ‘mark’ may consist of a device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name signature, word, letter, numeral, shape of goods, packaging or combination of colors or any combination thereof. Section 18 of the Trademarks Act requires that any person claiming to be the proprietor of a trade mark used or proposed to be used by him, must apply for registration in writing to the registrar of trademarks. The trademark, once applied for and which is accepted by the Registrar of Trademarks (“theRegistrar”), is to be advertised in the trademarks journal by the Registrar. Oppositions, if any, are invited and, after satisfactory adjudications of the same, a certificate of registration is issued by the Registrar. The right to use the mark can be exercised either by the registered proprietor or a registered user. The present term of registration of a trademark is 10 (ten) years, which may be renewed for similar periods on payment of a prescribed renewal fee.
The Copyright Act, 1957 ("Copyright Act")
The Copyright Act, 1957 grants protection to the authors of literary, artistic, dramatic, musical, photographic, cinematographic or sound recording works from unauthorized uses. Various rights including ownership and economic rights are conferred on the author. These include the right to reproduce the work in any form, issue copies to the public, perform it, and offer for sale and hire. The penalty for general infringement of copyright is imprisonment of maximum 3 (three) years and a fine of up to ` 2,00,000/-.
REGULATIONS REGARDING FOREIGN INVESTMENT