Corporate and commercial disputes before the National Company Law Tribunal at Chandigarh, the Debts Recovery Tribunal, the commercial courts of Punjab and Haryana, and the Punjab & Haryana High Court — shareholder and partnership disputes, recovery, insolvency, arbitration, and contractual litigation.

Most commercial disputes are not created in the year they are fought. They are created years earlier, in a document nobody read carefully because the parties were getting along at the time.

A partnership deed silent on how a partner exits. A supply arrangement running for a decade on purchase orders and trust. A family company where the shareholding was never matched to who actually does the work. A loan documented as a friendly transfer because a written agreement seemed unnecessary between brothers.

None of that matters until it matters, and then it is the only thing that does.

Shareholder and partnership disputes

Disputes between those who own a business together are among the hardest commercial matters, because the parties cannot simply walk away from each other and because the business continues to operate while they fight.

Where the affairs of a company are being conducted in a manner prejudicial to a shareholder or to the company itself, an application for relief against oppression and mismanagement lies before the National Company Law Tribunal. The Chandigarh Bench has jurisdiction over Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

The relief available is broad — regulating the conduct of the company’s affairs, setting aside a transaction, restraining an allotment of shares that would dilute a complainant, requiring one group to purchase the shares of another. What the Tribunal will not do is resolve an ordinary contractual disagreement dressed as an oppression petition, and the distinction is worth understanding before a petition is filed.

Partnership disputes follow a different route — dissolution, accounts, and the taking of accounts between partners — and are ordinarily brought as civil suits. Where the deed contains an arbitration clause, which many do, the dispute goes to arbitration instead and a suit will be resisted on that ground.

Recovery of commercial debts

Where money is owed to a business, the route depends on the amount, the parties and what documentation exists.

Commercial courts. Suits of a specified value are heard by designated commercial courts under the Commercial Courts Act, on a timetable that is materially tighter than ordinary civil procedure. Written statements must be filed within a fixed outer limit, documents must be disclosed at the outset, and the discretion to extend is limited. That cuts both ways — it is faster, and it is unforgiving of a party that is not ready.

Insolvency. Where the debtor is a company and the default exceeds the prescribed threshold, an application under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code may be filed before the Tribunal. This is a powerful remedy and it is frequently used as leverage rather than for its own sake, because the consequences for the debtor company are serious.

It is not a substitute for a recovery suit, and it should not be filed where the debt is genuinely disputed — an application filed on a disputed debt is liable to be rejected, sometimes with costs.

MSME facilitation. Where the claimant is a registered micro, small or medium enterprise and the buyer has delayed payment beyond the statutory period, reference may be made to the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council. This route carries a statutory entitlement to interest and is considerably under-used by small businesses that are entitled to it.

Cheque dishonour. Where payment was made by cheque and returned unpaid, proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act run alongside civil recovery. The timelines are strict and a notice sent incorrectly defeats the complaint before it starts.

Borrowers and bank proceedings

We act for borrowers in proceedings before the Debts Recovery Tribunal, and in applications challenging measures taken by a secured creditor under the SARFAESI Act — possession notices, sale notices and auction of secured assets.

These matters run on short timelines and the remedies are procedural as much as substantive. Whether the statutory notice was validly served, whether the objections raised were dealt with, whether the classification of the account was correct — these are frequently more productive lines than an argument about the merits of the loan.

Arbitration

Many commercial contracts provide for arbitration, and many parties discover this only when they attempt to file a suit.

We act in arbitration proceedings, in applications to the court for interim measures before or during an arbitration, in applications for appointment of an arbitrator where the other side will not cooperate, and in petitions to set aside or to enforce an award.

An interim measure from the court before the arbitration begins — securing the amount in dispute, restraining disposal of an asset — is frequently the most valuable step in the whole reference, for the same reason an injunction matters in a property suit: an award against a party with nothing left is worth little.

Contracts — before the dispute

We draft and review commercial agreements: supply and distribution arrangements, partnership deeds, shareholders’ agreements, service contracts, leases of commercial premises, and settlement agreements.

The clauses that matter in a dispute are rarely the ones parties negotiate hardest. They are the dull ones — how the agreement ends, who bears what if it does, where a dispute is to be resolved and by whom, and what happens to the parties’ obligations in the meantime.

A clear exit clause in a partnership deed costs almost nothing to draft and routinely saves several years of litigation.

What we do not do

We are a litigation practice. We do not undertake transactional corporate work — mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, securities compliance, or ongoing secretarial and regulatory filings.

Where a matter requires that, we will say so and, where we can, refer you to a chartered accountant or company secretary who does that work. Incorporation, annual filings and tax compliance are their field rather than ours, and a client is better served by being told that at the outset.

What we need from you

The agreement, if one exists, and the correspondence if it does not. Invoices, purchase orders, ledgers and bank statements. Board and shareholder records where a company is involved. Any notice already received or issued.

Commercial disputes turn on documents more completely than any other kind, and the assessment we can give you is only as good as the file we are given.

Vaqeelsaab — Advocates. Practising before the Punjab & Haryana High Court at Chandigarh and the district courts and tribunals of Punjab and Haryana.

+91 94160 09800 | info@vaqeelsaab.com