We are a family of strong 800+ people including 470+ professionals working from 14 locations across India.
We have a rich heritage and enduring legacy which are pivotal in shaping trust, excellence, and unparalleled legal expertise, thus building a strong reputation and a trusted brand.
We started in 1985 in a single room set up by the two founders with no prior experience of working in a law firm. Both the founders had outstanding academic records and focused on their deep understanding of the law to form the foundation of the firm.
Integrity, Knowledge and Passion are the principles that resonate with every member of our LKS family and the work that we do. These values drive us to build a community of legally sound professionals and well-serviced clients.
Everything we have accomplished over the last four decades is a result of our unique way of thinking which is deeply influenced by our core values and principles that define us.
We and our professionals consistently garner appreciation for the quality of our services and the depth of our legal expertise. This consistent acknowledgment serves as a testament to our unwavering commitment to exceed expectations.
We stay up-to-date and periodically share insightful commentary and analysis on the legal issues shaping businesses, both domestically and globally. Our opinionised articles offer fresh perspective on current burning issues, thus keeping you ahead of the curve.
The article seeks to analyse the GST implications on leasing of capital goods between ‘distinct persons’, in the light of a recent ruling of the Maharashtra Appellate Authority of Advance Ruling. After providing the crisp summary of the Ruling, the article examines the implication of the Ruling in respect of issues regarding valuation, mere movement of goods not amounting to supply, and documentation.
The article discusses a recent decision of the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court which has set aside an order passed by the Controller of Patents and Designs refusing the grant of patent for treatment of a plant disease, for being a method of agriculture under Section 3(h) of the Patents Act, 1970. The High Court in this regard noted that Sections 3(h) which bars the patenting of a method of agriculture or horticulture, does not contemplate treatment of plants
The Finance Act, 2021 substituted the provisions of reassessment under the Income-tax Act, 1961. Under the new reassessment provisions, the concept of ‘reason to believe’ has been substituted with ‘information’ which suggests that the income has escaped assessment. The article discusses the question as to whether such ‘information’ is required to be tested against the concept of ‘change of opinion’, as was required under the old reassessment provisions.
The WTO panel recently ruled against India’s import duty measures in relation to certain Information and Communication Technology (‘ICT’) goods, holding the measures as inconsistent with Articles II:1(a) and (b) of the GATT 1994. The article analyses the critical arguments raised by India to defend its position and the panel’s ruling thereon.
Revival of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (‘CIRP’) proceedings refers to the restoration of the already withdrawn CIRP by a creditor which generally happens upon the breach of the settlement agreement (‘Settlement Agreement’) pursuant to which the application for CIRP also gets withdrawn. In such circumstances, rather than filing for a fresh application for initiation of CIRP, the creditor may seek reviving of the earlier application.
The article discusses a recent decision of the Larger Bench of the CESTAT which settles, in favour of assessee, the issue as to whether Business Auxiliary Services (BAS) provided by Indian agents to foreign entities qualify as export of services under the service tax regime. The article in this regard also analyses whether this decision of the Larger Bench will have any impact in the GST regime.
The article discusses a recent decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Saraf Exports v. CIT, wherein the Apex Court has held that export incentives like Duty Drawback and DEPB will not qualify as first-degree nexus for the purposes of claim of deduction under Section 80-IB of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The decision has also reiterated the principle laid down earlier that restrictive meaning must be given to the expression ‘derived from’.
The article discusses the application of the Swissness Act, 2017 which regulates the use of Swiss symbols or labels, associating the products and services with Switzerland. Talking about the criteria for Swissness and the effect of the Act on the famous chocolate brand, the article notes that evocation is a huge factor when understanding consumer psychology. According to the author, while the Act does not refer to trademarks per se, it does find its basis in the concept of evocation.
When producers or exporters export goods to other countries, they most likely would have come across a trade barrier of some form or the other. While tariff walls have as such declined and non-tariff barriers have increased, importing countries continue to use trade remedial measures as a defense against imports. In fact, India and the United States are the leading users of trade remedial measures while imports from China are the major target of these trade remedial measures
Charitable entities set up for different charitable causes such as education, yoga, relief of poor, medical relief, advancement of any general public utility etc., receive a tax-exempt status under Section 10(23C) and Section 11 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (‘Act’). As per Section 11 of the Act, the trusts or charitable institutions are subject to following conditions to obtain tax exemption:
The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court has held that arbitration cannot be invoked when the arbitration agreement or clause is contained in an unstamped or insufficiently stamped agreement or contract. According to the authors, even though this issue arises at the preliminary stage of the arbitration, the Apex Court had ordered to ensure sufficient stamping of the instruments.
The article examines a recent decision of the Delhi High Court, where the High Court has redefined the boundaries of permissible claim amendments for overcoming the objections on non-patentability especially Section 3(i) of the Patents Act, 1970, without jeopardizing the requirements of Section 59. The primary focus of this article is on the interpretation of Section 3(i) and Section 59 of the Act as provided by the High Court
The Madras High Court recently in the case of Eastman Exports Global Clothing, settled an interesting question of law pertaining to the reversal of Input Tax Credit on the loss of inputs which is inherent to the process of manufacturing. Although the judgment pertains to the treatment of manufacturing loss under Section 19(9)(iii) of the Tamil Nadu VAT Act, the principle enunciated by the Court is very helpful in determining the entitlement of ITC vis-à-vis Section 17(5)(h) of the CGST Act.
The article analyses a recent CESTAT decision relating to the threshold for considering a product within the scope of the product under consideration (‘PUC’) in anti-dumping investigations. The Hon’ble CESTAT has held that mere production of a product is not enough for it to be included in the scope of the PUC; the domestic industry must show that it has catered to a certain amount of demand for that product for it to be included. The article in this regard notes that ...
The article highlights the intricacies of TDS withholding, under the income tax provisions, which appear to impact the taxable value under GST in case of import of services. The moot question is whether the taxable value for discharging GST should be confined only to the contractual payment qua the foreign service provider or the amount of TDS, paid by the Indian service recipient as additional statutory obligation, should also be added. Analysing various Court and Tribunal decisions, the...
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