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Well-drafted commercial agreements panacea to avoid litigations: ASSOCHAM

In the era of global economy, the commercial contracts have become indispensible part of the corporate activity and greater attention is being paid towards their drafting. The role and operation of contracts depends on the society, its cultural and legal heritage and traditions, and the politicoeconomic environment within which they operate. For any business and organizations, the key requirement is to ensure that the legal arrangements allow the full commercial benefits to be realized.

ASSOCHAM in its endeavour to actively involve and showcase programmes to bring updated knowledge and policy guidelines for the benefit of the Industry and all stake holders, organized “National Workshop on Drafting of Commercial Agreements” in association with Lex Witness as its Official Magazine Partner to bring closer the Industry and Policy makers for fruitful discussion at ASSOCHAM House, New Delhi, on Friday, 30th March, 2012.

The Workshop discussed the various issues involved in drafting and negotiating commercial agreements including the applicable provisions of law, both statutory and general principles, the law relating to damages and enforcement of contract, etc. which need to be considered and provided valuable insights to the concerned business executives, lawyers and professionals to safeguard their/client’s business interests.

Former Chief Justice, Supreme Court of India A.M. Ahmadi while inaugurating the workshop said that uncertainties and differences of opinions among parties lead to unnecessary litigation and dampen economic activity. Parties should try to use the words and phrases which are easy to understand and interpret to avoid varied interpretations.

Special Secretary at the Ministry of Law and Justice, N.K. Nampoothiry said all contracts should be supported by legal documents and must necessarily include an exit clause.

The Conference address three major heads namely, Overview of Commercial Contracts, Cross Border Agreements and Overview of Governing Laws. The business executives and legal experts equivocally expressed that it is fundamental to regulate and document business relationships regardless of the size of operation.

Mr. Suman Jyoti Khaitan, Chairman of ASSOCHAM Legal Affairs Committee made an overview of systems, procedures and practices both nationally and globally and advised the participants to be extra cautious while entering into any commercial contracts. Mr. S.C. Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of SMC Group shared his thoughts from industrial perspective.

Mr. Deepak Dayal, Managing Partner of Dayal Legal Associates, said that there is rarely a water-tight contract or a particular way or technique that can be sufficient for the purpose of constructing the contracts and added that we need to keep improving, challenging and constantly increasing our legal knowledge to keep up with the ever changing requirements.

Mr.Arun Kumar, Senior Advisor-Policy, ASSOCHAM proposed a vote of thanks and assured the Delegates that ASSOCHAM will continue to hold such Knowledge based Conferences at regular intervals.

The workshop was widely attended and applauded by various corporates like GMR, Reliance Power & Communications, HSBC, Tata Motors, State Bank of India, IIFCL, JUSCO, HSIL, PFRA, Petronet LNG, Power Grid Corporation, PWC, Sony and Others.

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