Book of Abstracts – Strengthening Legal provisions for the Enforcement of Contracts: Reassessing the Quality and Efficiency of Dispute Resolution of Commercial matters in India

ABOUT THE BOOK OF ABSTRACTS 

India ranked 142nd in 2015 Ease of doing business rankings published on 29 October 2014 by the World  Bank. Since then it has jumped 65 places to reach its current 77th position in 2019 rankings, published on 31 October 2018. One of the factors considered to calculate the rankings is the contract enforcement indicator. However, on this indicator the country has not been able to register that good a performance. In 2015 ranking India was 186th among 189 countries. In the 2019 Rankings it ranked 163rd among 190 countries in relation to contract enforcement by the World Bank in its ease of doing business report of 2018. To remedy this dire situation the Parliament of India enacted the Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018. The amendment brought radical changes in the area of contract enforcement. Most important were limiting the discretion of the court in granting the remedy of specific performance and injunctions in disputes related to infrastructures and introducing the right to substituted performance. However, more such radical adjustments are required to be made in the future to improve the contracting environment of India. In India several legislations deal with various aspects of contractual enforcement viz. The Indian Contract Act, 1872; The Specific Relief Act, 1963; The Sales of Goods Act, 1930; The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996; The Commercial Courts Act, 2015; and, The Competition Act, 2002; The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. In the Seminar the various issues related to strengthening and simplifying the provisions related to contractual enforcement will
be deliberated upon. The National Seminar is in pursuance of the Project undertaken by CEERA under the Ministry of Law and Justice titled “Strengthening Legal Provisions for the Enforcement of Contracts:
Reassessing the Quality and Efficiency of Dispute Resolution of Commercial Matters in India”. The Project is an effort to explore possible avenues of reformation in the Contractual and Commercial Law to uplift the dire situation of contractual enforcement in India. The Project will undertake a thorough survey and analysis of laws dealing with contractual enforcement in India through the review of various legislations, case laws, comparative legal research, and will also conduct empirical research by organizing seminars, surveys, interviews with the experts on the field. The Seminar invited presentations and papers on the following themes:
1. Performance of Contractual Obligations Law and Practice:
a. Substituted Performance, Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018.
b. Specific Performance
c. Substantial Performance
d. Time and place of Performance
2. Remedy and Relief:
a. Penalty Clauses and Penalty Damages
b. Damages
c. Exemplary Damages
d. Temporary Relief Measures: Ad Interim Injunctions
e. “Reliance Loss” Consequential Damages
f. Formula for Damages
3. Contractual Enforcement
a. Indemnity Clauses and Contracts
b. Non-Disclosure Agreements
c. Intellectual Property
4. Commercial Dispute Resolution
a. Alternate Dispute Resolution in commercial Disputes
b. Commercial Court Act
On the above themes we accepted 145 abstracts from 247 participants from various parts of the country. We are overwhelmed and delighted to see the enthusiasm and interest which the participants have shown on this topic. The following Book is an compilation of the accepted Abstracts. The Abstracts are grouped under 12 parallel sessions as per the Schedule.