POLICY AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS PRACTICE

India is a federation of twenty-eight (28) States and seven (7) Union Territories. The President is the nominal head of the Union, while the Prime Minister with his Council of Ministers is the de facto head of the Government. At the state level, the Governor is the de jure head and the Chief Minister is the head of the State Government. The Indian Parliament (Sansad) consists of a bicameral legislature, the Lok Sabha (House of the People-the Lower House) and the Rajya Sabha (Council of States-the Upper House). General elections are held every five (5) years electing the 545 Members of the Lok Sabha.

The Constitution of India demarcates the legislative competence of the Central and State Governments through 3 lists. While defence, foreign affairs, patents, banking, currency, income tax, excise duty, railways, shipping, national highways etc are in List I (Union List); List II (State List) includes items like police, gas and gas works, public health, communications, agriculture, taxes on entertainment and wealth, sales tax and octroi. However, certain subjects overlap which pose anomalies in the interpretation of the laws. For example, while petroleum and petroleum products find place in List I, gas and gas works is listed in the State List. A Presidential Reference to the Supreme Court of India  decided the matter in favor of the Centre. In taxation, it is envisaged that Central Government will legislate for Income Tax (except on Agricultural Income), Excise (except on alcoholic drinks) and Customs, while the State Governments will make laws for Sales tax, Excise on liquor and Tax on Agricultural Income. Moreover, there are certain subjects listed in List III (Concurrent List) like power, education, labour etc, where both Parliament and the State Legislatures have the power to legislate but in the event of conflict, the Union law usually prevails.

Given the regional disparities with respect to development and governance that exist amongst the different states, India poses both challenges and opportunities. Our Policy and Government Relations Practice with in-depth knowledge of the changing laws, policies and regulations, law-making and Government decision making processes is geared to working with clients looking for practical business solutions. CLG represents a number of national and international trade associations like Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and multinational companies in areas like pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, heavy engineering, mining, wines and spirit, infant food and other regulated industries that face various regulatory and other non-tariff barriers to market access.

Our understanding of Government policy making processes are indeed strengthened through our work for both central and State Governments. We represent the State of Assam in the Supreme Court of India. We have drafted regulations (The Protection of the Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Rules, 2000 for the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India); have conducted 10-country patent laws study for Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce, Government of India prior to India amending its patent law in compliance with TRIPS ; drafted Social Security Agreement (Totalization Agreement) between India and the US for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of Indiafor Mode 4 - Services Sectors; prepared a Report for the Government of India on the establishment of an International Financial Services Center (IFSC) and have drafted relevant sector-wise Reports and Laws (Offshore Banking, Offshore Insurance, Securities, Asset Management etc.) for the proposed center.

Our lawyers have the experience of working with the government on the various WTO Ministerial and have been part of the Government’s Study group on Anti-dumping cases and law. In the last few years of transition in line with WTO obligations, our lawyers have been invited to depose before Joint parliamentary committees, International and National Expert committees.

CLG has in-depth understanding of the ground realities that operate at all levels of the regulatory mechanism of the Government. Our lawyers and professionals specialize in  different disciplines and these industry specific knowledge along with knowledge of international agreements and best practices places us at a unique advantage. CLG appreciates that different businesses require different thinking, so, we create tailored solutions for different business houses

CLG has been actively involved in a number of research and policy matters on Regulatory Data Protection. Keeping in view India’s TRIPs commitments and the need to encourage Research and Development further more, Corporate Law Group has been espousing for introduction of a proper Data Exclusivity law in India.  CLG has done substantial work and generated valuable research documents on Data Exclusivity and its special relevance to India, more particularly on  the need to create exclusivity for clinical dossiers for the pharmaceutical industry.  CLG has also extensively worked on the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 vis-à-vis Data Exclusivity.