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Bharat Vasani

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Senior Advisor - Corporate laws at the Mumbai office of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Bharat has over 30 years of experience at senior management level. His areas of specialization includes company law, corporate and commercial laws, securities law, capital market, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, media & entertainment law, competition law, employment law and property matters. He heads firm’s media and entertainment law practice.  He is highly regarded in Government circles and in various industry organizations for his proactive approach on public policy issues. Bharat was a member of the Expert Committee appointed by the Government of India to revise the Companies Act, 2013.

Prior to joining the Firm, Bharat was the Group General Counsel of the Tata Group.  He has been at the helm of and steered several large key M&A transactions pursued by the Tata Group in the last 17 years.

Bharat’s contribution to the legal fraternity has been recognized by the Harvard Law School’s Award for Professional Excellence in 2016. Bharat has won several other national and international awards for his various achievements. He had a brilliant academic record in law and first rank holder in all India company secretary examination. He can be reached at bharat.vasani@cyrilshroff.com

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Examining the Case for CSR in Kind

Context 

Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) has remained a buzzword for multinationals, policy makers, consumers and other stakeholders alike. While every country has a CSR regime, the Indian CSR regime is unique due to its distinctive departure from the voluntary nature, which is one of the core aspects of a CSR framework. India is the only country in the world which has made both, the spending and reporting of CSR obligations mandatory. The new CSR regime notified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“MCA”) on January 22, 2021 brought about a fundamental shift from the erstwhile ‘comply or explain’ regime to a mandatory CSR regime. This includes specific obligations relating to CSR fund disbursement, ‘utilisation’ of disbursed funds, monitoring and evaluation.Continue Reading Perspective: Examining the Case for CSR in Kind

Foreign Contributions Regulations in India

India’s diverse social fabric needs no introduction. In a developing country, ‘constructive’ philanthropy designed to cater to the fast-growing needs is particularly important. In a country with massive population such as ours, it’s often difficult for the government machinery to engineer a trickle down of every social welfare scheme. This is where Non-governmental organisations or associations (‘NGOs’) come in to play an important part. They work with the government and focus on their purpose, which can be religion, human rights, animal rights, poverty eradication, environment, etc. NGOs can be international, national, or regional and can adapt quickly and respond to the changing needs of the society faster than a government organisation which require executive and electoral approval for action.[1]Continue Reading Foreign Contributions Regulations in India – Towards a Stricter Regime