Law firms may take on government over foreign firms' entry

MUMBAI: The government's recent decision to allow foreign law firms to operate from India does not seem to have settled well with some of their Indian counterparts. The Society of Indian Law Firms ( SILF), a body comprising the country's top-100 law firms and the apex representative organisation for corporate commercial and litigation law, has sent a questionnaire to its members seeking their response to this government directive.

ET had, on January 14, reported that the government had amended a rule on January 3 which would now allow foreign law and audit firms to operate from special economic zones (SEZs). The move would initially benefit Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT). Current regulations do not permit multinational law firms to operate in the country. Indian law and accountancy firms were also not allowed to operate from any of the SEZs. That rule has now been amended which would benefit financial centres.

Citing the ET story, Lalit Bhasin, president, SILF, said this was a “sudden and significant“ development. SILF has mailed a questionnaire comprising five questions to its members seeking their opinion on whether such a notification could be issued by the department of commerce in the first place. It wanted to know whether the Bar Council of India had given its approval for this and who would monitor the foreign law firms. They also wanted to know if the foreign law firms could practice throughout India from the SEZ.

When contacted, Bhasin said, "I do not have any view on this. We have just sought opinions from our members; we can form our view and course of action only after we get the responses."

Law firms are required to give their responses by January 25 and a meeting would be held after that.