LAWYER'S DIARY
January 8, 2008
=========================
Published as a blog for friends and clients by Vineet Bhagat, Advocate
*****
WISHES FOR A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008 !!!
*****
INSIDE:
> Mergers & Acquisitions – 'A stitch in time saves nine.'
…if the Acquisition deal was closed without Due Diligence exercise, our MNC client would have wound up buying only 2/3 rd of the company leading to a loss of crores and more… ( see below for detailed report)
> A VERY SUCCESSFUL SEMINAR - A REPORT ON SEMINAR ORGANISED ON THE TOPIC OF "PLEA BARGAINING"
Charged debate… Vice Chairman UGC Prof. (Dr.) Mool Chand Sharma generated heat by calling this law against the 'Rule of Law' and raised apprehension about misuse… Solicitor General Mr.Goolam E. Vahanvati affirmed the need for the new law on Plea Bargaining… Hon'ble Law Minister Dr.H.R.Bhardwaj asserted that we have to change with times… Hon'ble Justice Ashok Bhan asserted that Bench has to implement the law… it was a Full house. ( see below for detailed report & PICS of the Seminar)
> Law Firm Management – Future for 2008
Interested in our future… see below to know 'What do we stand for?'
******
>> Mergers & Acquisitions – 'A stitch in time saves nine.'
We have recently completed two Due Diligence exercises for our MNC client, which company is No.2 in the world in its field of business.
There was tremendous pressure on us from the side of our client as they were anxious to close the deal asap. But after perusing our thorough analysis of the record and understanding the pitfalls of moving ahead without completing the thorough exercise, we received full support in this regard.
Under my guidance, Advocate Jitender Mehta put in his untiring efforts in this regard and minutely examined every single document of the record with the help of his team members namely Advocates Neha Jain & Manju Bhagat and put together a comprehensive Report of investigation.
And if the Acquisition of the companies would have gone ahead without the Due Diligence exercises, in one of the cases, our MNC client would have wound up buying only 2/3 rd of the company leading to a loss of crores of rupees and consequent disputes and litigation with the purchaser.
The Due Diligence exercise does slow down the process to some extent, but the benefits derived outweigh the efforts and expenses incurred.
I am especially mentioning the above because even the large Indian Companies do not believe in prevention but damage control. This attitude has many a times lead to unexpected losses, simply for the reason that the deal was closed without thorough investigation and hence it was not an informed decision.
Thus the age old wisdom cannot be ignored – 'A stitch in time saves nine.'
Vineet Bhagat, Advocate
******
>> A VERY SUCCESSFUL SEMINAR - A REPORT ON SEMINAR ORGANISED ON THE TOPIC OF "PLEA BARGAINING"
The inclusion of Chapter on Plea Bargaining in the Criminal Procedure Code and its coming into force in July 2006 has sparked numerous discussions regarding its benefits and how it can reduce the workload of the backlogged Courts and to declutter the Judicial system and the Concentration Camps that our Jails have known to become. According to many Jurists our Criminal Justice system has collapsed because of a very slow criminal justice system where the trials are cumbersome, long and slow and the inclusion of Plea Bargaining in the Indian Criminal Judicial System will help to reduce 
the pressure on the courts. The objective is laudable but does raise a few questions about it being against the 'Rule of Law', which is as critical as decluttering the courts. And with the objective to throw light on this aspect of 'Plea Bargaining' which has been ignored in the hype and hoopla created around it, the Seminar was organized on Wednesday 12th December 2007 at the 
Plenary Hall of Indian Law Institute .
I initiated the debate by 1st inviting Prof. 
(Dr.) Mool Chand Sharma, Vice-Chairman UGC who generated quite a heat by calling this law against the 'Rule of Law' and expressed his apprehension regarding misuse
of the provisions of law by the unscrupulous people.
Then I invited the learned Solicitor General Mr.Goolam E. Vahanvati and he in a very lucid manner traced 100 years of history of Plea Bargaining in US as well as other parts of the world and asserted the need for the new law on Plea Bargaining and while dealing with Indian version of Plea Bargaining, put to rest the apprehensions raised by Prof. Mool Chand Sharma regarding misuse of the law and pointed out the checks and balances that have been built into the law to prevent its misuse.
I then invited Hon'ble Law Minister Dr.H.R.Bhardwaj to carry the debate forward and he in his elegant speech asserted and reasserted the message that we have to change with times and the law on Plea Bargaining is the need of the hour and affirmed that sufficient checks and balances have been built into the law to prevent its misuse.
After high voltage speeches of an eminent Jurist, the Litigator and the Legislator, the debate could not have been complete without the view of Judiciary and so I invited the Hon'ble Mr.Justice Ashok Bhan to enlighten us on the subject. He emphasized the point that Bench has to interpret and implement the law passed by the Legislature of the Country and after the law has become part of the rule book, a Judge can only express his opinion on its validity in a matter where it validity is questioned. Nonethless, being the Chairman of NLSA, he has 1 st hand experience of the plight of the lakhs of undertrials, rotting in the Jails for minor offences, he was in favour of comprehensive implementation of this law to help the cause of poor undertrials, which would ultimately declutter the Courts and would lead to the Courts devoting their valuable time to more important causes than wasting time on trivial 
matters.
With the distinguished dignatiries scheduled to address during the seminar, the Hall was already full much before the start of the seminar and people were jostling for a place to stand during the seminar. It was a Full House.
A few photographs of the seminar are also attached with this email for your eyes only.
Vineet Bhagat, Advocate
******
>> Law Firm Management – Future for 2008
The first 'Forward Meeting' of the New Year was dedicated for creating the future for ourselves for this Year as well as for the future.
We dug out the core values of our work culture at the Firm and crystallized the answer to the question that we have been repeatedly asking ourselves – What do we stand for?
After thorough self introspection, we declared that we stand for ' Excellence in Client Service - through Prompt Service, Pleasant Personality and Transparent Communication ' and this is Who We Are!
I presented to the Law Firm Associates the figures of our growth and it gives me great pleasure to share with you all that we have grown by more than 200% in the last year and we have set target for ourselves to beat this growth by double the margin and this year we propose to grow by 400%.
A lot of systems are being put in place for this high speed journey which will also be a reflection of our Stand – Prompt Service, Pleasant Personality and Transparent Communication '
