Pratik Datta
"The life of the law has not been
logic; it has been experience."
"I don't care who writes a nation's laws, or crafts its advanced treatises, if I can write its economics textbooks."
"I don't care who writes a nation's laws, or crafts its advanced treatises, if I can write its economics textbooks."
Links
- Email: prat.nujs@gmail.com
Profile
I am currently a Senior Research Fellow at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., an Indian law firm.
My short tryst with conventional legal practice motivated me to pursue an interdisciplinary career in public policy primarily related to the financial sector. As a researcher at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, I regularly published research papers and also advised various government ministries, regulators and expert committees in formulating financial laws, regulations and policies.
My research interest involves interactions of law, economics and democratic institutions.
I completed LLB (Hons.) from NUJS Kolkata and MSc in Law and Finance from University of Oxford as a Chevening Weidenfeld Hoffmann scholar.
I am currently a Senior Research Fellow at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., an Indian law firm.
My short tryst with conventional legal practice motivated me to pursue an interdisciplinary career in public policy primarily related to the financial sector. As a researcher at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, I regularly published research papers and also advised various government ministries, regulators and expert committees in formulating financial laws, regulations and policies.
My research interest involves interactions of law, economics and democratic institutions.
I completed LLB (Hons.) from NUJS Kolkata and MSc in Law and Finance from University of Oxford as a Chevening Weidenfeld Hoffmann scholar.
Projects
- The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Act, 2021
- Report of Expert Committee on Regulating Audit Firms and the Networks
- Report of the Working Group on Building the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India
- Report of the Working Group on Information Utilities
- Report of the Committee on Digital Payments
- The report of the Bankruptcy Law Reforms Committee (Volume I: Rationale and Design)
- Report of the Committee to Review the Framework of Access to Domestic and Overseas Capital Markets (Phase II, Part II: Foreign Currency Borrowing) (Report III)
- Report of the Committee to Review the Framework of Access to Domestic and Overseas Capital Markets
- Report of the Committee to Review the FCCBs and Ordinary Shares (Through Depository Receipt Mechanism) Scheme, 1993
- Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission
- The 100 laws project: Compendium of laws to be repealed
Presentations / talks / debates
- International
Research Conference on Insolvency and Bankruptcy
(IIM, Ahmedabad),
Presenter: Resolving discoms under IBC: A comparative law approach, April 30-May 1, 2022 - Making
progress on the National Tribunal Commission
(NTC),
Panelist: 12th Emerging Markets Conference, December 15, 2021 - Judicial
Review of Central Banks: An Indian
Perspective,
Speaker: Fourth Conference on Law and Macroeconomics, October 27, 2021 - Recovery
and Resilience: A workshop on India's Bankruptcy
Resolution Framework,
Panelist: Carnegie India, October 14, 2020 - Findings
and Recommendations on Regulating Audit Firms and
the Networks,
Moderator: Emerging Market Finance Conference 2018, December 15, 2018 - Judicial
Review and Money Bills (Law Faculty,
Oxford)
Speaker: South Asian Law Discussion Group, February 16, 2018 - Weidenfeld-Hoffmann
Trust Debate 2018 (Town Hall, Oxford)
Proposition Speaker: Hate speech is free speech, February 15, 2018 - Debating Matters Championship (Magdalen College
School, Oxford)
Individual Judge: Oxford Championship Round, February 8, 2018 - Linacre Seminars (Linacre College,
Oxford)
Speaker: Questioning the Indian Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, Janurary 30, 2018 - Battle of Ideas (Said Business School, Oxford)
Panelist: Battle for the economy: Universal Basic Income - workfare or freedom?, November 29, 2017 - Ipolicy for Young Leaders: Stakeholder
Mapping (CCS, Delhi)
Speaker: Right to Education Act, 2009, July 16, 2017 - Digital Payments - Trends, Issues and
Challenges (FICCI, Delhi)
Panelist: Government Perspective on Trends in Digital Payments, July 3, 2017 - Access to justice: Role of state tribunals in India (KAT,
Bangalore)
Panelist: Evaluating Tribunals - The use of quantitative data analysis, March 18-19, 2017 - 2016
UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Day (NLU Delhi)
Panelist: Issues in drafting and enforcing international commercial contracts, October 17, 2016 - IGIDR-Paypal
roundtable on Harnessing FinTech potential for India
Speaker: Introduction: status of FinTech in India, October 5, 2016 - Law
Economic and Policy Conference (New Delhi)
Paper: Judicial review and money bills, September 29-30, 2016 - Bankruptcy
Laws & Cross-Border Insolvency in India- The Way
Ahead (NLU Delhi)
Panelist: Bankruptcy reform: From ideas to action, May 14, 2016 - Foresight,
9th Annual DRIC-ISC (Kochi)
Special Guest Speaker Presentation: Depositary Receipts Scheme 2014 - Lessons in Policy Implementation, November 20, 2015 -
The 1st Bankruptcy Law Reforms Committee
Conference
Presentation: Insolvency Adjudication - The institutional framework, August 1, 2015 - DEA-IGIDR
Roundtable on the elements of a sound
bankruptcy
Presentation: Learnings from FSAT Task Force, May 15, 2015 - 8th
Annual Depository Receipt Issuers' Conference,
Indian Sub-continent (Jaipur)
Panelist: Easing conditions for investors in India, 4-7 September, 2014 - FSLRC
Handbook Implementation: Approvals, Notices and
Investigation
Presented at FSLRC Handbook Workshop on 8-9 May, 2014
Journal Articles
- Judicial
review of central banks: an Indian
perspective
[7(1) Indian Law Review (2023) 96-117]
Full version available here - Resolving
financial firms in India: The way forward
[13 NUJS Law Review (2020) 1]
- Judicial
review and money bills
[10 NUJS Law Review (2017)]
Cited in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2018) 1 SCC 809 - Towards
a Tribunal Services Agency
[8 NUJS Law Review 182-204 (2015)]
- Intermediaries
as arbitrageurs: revisiting the motivations behind
overseas listing
[6(2) Jindal Global Law Review 193-205 (2015)]
The final publication is available at link.springer.com - The Depository Receipts
Scheme, 2014: Lessons in policy
implementation
[1 NLS Bus. L. Rev. 93 (2015)] - Amendments by
Stealth: MCA Resurrects Henry VIII's
Legacy
[Economic and Political Weekly, Vol - XLIX No. 52, December 27, 2014]
Working Papers
- How
to modernise the working of courts and tribunals in
India
[NIPFP Working Paper, March, 2019] - Value
Destruction and Wealth Transfer under the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code, 2016
[NIPFP Working Paper, December, 2018] - Understanding Judicial Delay at the
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in India
[NIPFP Working Paper, October, 2017] - Judicial
Review and Money Bills
[NIPFP Working Paper, February, 2017] - Towards
a Tribunal Services Agency
[IGIDR Working Paper, February, 2016]
Chapter contributions
- The evolving Indian distressed debt market: Reading the tea leaves [IBBI, Chapter 4, IBC: Ideas, Impressions and Implementation.]
- Resolving
discoms under IBC: A comparative law approach
[IBBI, Chapter 12, Anusandhan: Exploring New Perspectives on Insolvency (2022).] - Rationalising
group structure through insolvency law
[IBBI, Quinquennial of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, (2021).]
News items
- Cross-Border
Activities In India Need More Freedom, Not
Less
[Bloomberg Quint, May 08, 2023] - Lesson
from demonetisation verdict: There is now greater
judicial scrutiny of RBI decisions
[Indian Express, January 11, 2023] - Hurdles
to resolution
[Indian Express, July 22, 2022] - Policy,
not diktat
[Indian Express, June 24, 2022] - Why
special situation funds are
necessary
[Indian Express, March 16, 2022] - Implications
of using bankruptcy code against
discoms
[Indian Express, December 1, 2021] - Winds
of change in stressed assets market
[Hindu Business Line, October 12, 2021] - Bad
bank lessons from China
[Indian Express, June 25, 2021] - Explained:
All you need to know about NaBFID
Bill
[CNBC TV18, April 16, 2021] - India
needs national security screening of
FDI
[Indian Express, March 13, 2021] - Needed:
A fine balance
[Indian Express, November 11, 2020] - Asset
reconstruction companies must be allowed to turn around
distressed businesses
[Indian Express, October 06, 2020] - RBI
proposal on capping bank CEO tenure is not supported by
any cogent evidence
[Indian Express, July 31, 2020] - India's
quantum ambitions must be backed by robust policy
framework
[Economic Times, June 28, 2020] -
National Mission on Quantum Technologies: Government
needs to address legal strategy to unlock dual-use
tech
[Economic Times, May 27, 2020] - Do
not use FEMA for national security
[Economic Times, May 23, 2020] - IBC
suspension will hurt debt restructuring
process
[Hindu Business Line, May 01, 2020] - Does
IBC work for financial firms?
[Business Standard, December 26, 2019] - Capital
Freedom
[Indian Express, September 13, 2019] - The
proper purpose of insolvency law
[Livemint, May 06, 2018] - Flat buyers under IBC: Creditors or consumers?
[Business Standard, August 24, 2017] - Abolishing
FIPB Hasn't Solved Underlying Flaws with India's
Investment Approval Process
[The Wire, July 13, 2017] - Essar
Steel insolvency issue vs RBI: What lies
ahead?
[Business Standard, July 6, 2017] - Capital
controls undermine arbitration
potential
[Business Standard, May 10, 2017] - The
New Banking Ordinance Will Do Little to Solve India's
Bad Loans Crisis
[The Wire, May 9, 2017] - Key
Panel Overlooks Constitutional Loophole on Fiscal
Restraint
[The Wire, April 17, 2017] - Judicial
review of the Speaker's certificate on the Aadhar
Bill
[Bloomberg Quint, March 5, 2017] - Judicial
review of the Speaker's certificate on the Aadhar
Bill
[Business Standard, March 3, 2017] - Revamping
the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal
[Mint, December 13, 2016] - Lessons
from 1946 and 1978: Why a Parliamentary Act is still
needed for demonetisation
[Scroll.in, December 5, 2016] - Sebi
needs a new regulatory structure
[Business Standard, July 23, 2016] (full piece) - M'Lord, Protect us from
Lawyers
[The Economic Times, July 16, 2016 (ET Blog)] - RBI
should not regulate asset reconstruction
companies
[Business Standard, July 03, 2016] (full piece) - Lay
down the ground rules of operation
[Business Standard, May 18, 2016] - An
Act that hinders competitiveness
[Business Standard, March 31, 2016] - Debacle
over natural justice
[Business Standard, January 14, 2016] - A
better bankruptcy regulator
[Business Standard, January 9, 2016] - Balance
regulatory transparency with protection of bank
information
[Business Standard, December 19, 2015] - Enabling
better judicial outcomes in insolvency
[The Financial Express, December 14, 2015] - A
good job, half done
[The Financial Express, October 16, 2015]
Quotes
- Several
challenges in making CRAs financially liable to
investors: Experts
[November 12, 2018] - Confusion over shareholders' approval for resolution plan under IBC
[August 31, 2017] - SC
allows settlement between parties even after case is
admitted under IBC
[July 28, 2017] - Supreme
Court allows case settlement after insolvency
proceedings begin
[July 27, 2017] - Essar
Steel vs RBI: How a press release became centre of
controversy
[July 17, 2017]
Blogs and online pieces
- Judicial
review of central banks: An Indian
perspective
[The Oxford Business Law Blog, January 06, 2023] - Management
takeover under SARFAESI Act - A zombie
law
[The LEAP Blog, September 13, 2021] - How
to Start Resolving the Indian Judiciary's Long-Running
Case Backlog
[Carnegie India, September 09, 2021] - Resolving
Financial Firms in India - The Way
Forward
[The Oxford Business Law Blog, August 04, 2020] - Indian
Supreme Court on virtual currency: Regulatory governance
implications
[The LEAP Blog, April 10, 2020] - Relative
priority rule in Indian insolvency law
[Asia Business Law Journal, November 20, 2019] - IBC
amendment moves towards recognizing
APR
[Asia Business Law Journal, September 10, 2019] - IBC
(Amendment) Bill, 2019: Implications for judicial review
of resolution plans
[The LEAP Blog, August 07, 2019] - Pick
your poison: Money bill privilege or government
shutdown?
[The LEAP Blog, January 04, 2019] - Value
destruction and wealth transfer under
IBC
[The LEAP Blog, December 31, 2018] - Free
press and criminal defamation: Inspiration from
Africa
[May 24, 2018] - Promoter
buy-back in insolvency: `Phoenixing' in
India
[December 15, 2017] - Commercial
wisdom to judicial discretion: NCLT reorients
IBC
[December 13, 2017] - Flat buyers under IBC: Creditors or consumers?
[August 23, 2017] - Money
Bills And Judicial Review: A Major Constitutional
Challenge Is Brewing
[July 25, 2017] - Replacing
FIPB with Standard Operating Procedure not
enough
[July 13, 2017] - Essar
Steel v. RBI: What lies ahead?
[July 6, 2017] - NPA
Ordinance: The impact of secrecy in ordinance
making
[May 8, 2017] - Understanding
the recent Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance,
2017
[May 8, 2017] - Judicial
review of the Speaker's certificate on the Aadhar
Bill
[March 1, 2017] - Judicial
Procedures will make or break the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code
[January 24, 2017] - Demonetisation
needs a Parliamentary law to be fool-proof
[Ajay Shah's blog] - Constitutional
law, Brexit and the Bhopal encounter
[Ajay Shah's blog] - The
controversy about Aadhaar as a money bill
[Ajay Shah's blog] - Instrumenting
courts in India
[Ajay Shah's blog] - Transforming
the operational efficiency of tribunals and courts
[Ajay Shah's blog] - Evaluating
recent attempts at improving the legislative process at
RBI
[Ajay Shah's blog] - Drafting
hall of shame #1: Criminal sanctions for a new concept of exchange
control violations
[Ajay Shah's blog] - Problems
with the RBI's new ECB framework
[IndiaCorpLaw Blog] - RBI's
Draft Framework on ECB: The Background
[IndiaCorpLaw Blog] - Start-up
India: Should foreign listing of start-ups be facilitated?
[IndiaCorpLaw Blog] - The
BCI and its new rules: What does it mean for
non-litigation advocates?
[Bar & Bench] (full piece) - Good
sense on Docomo vs. the rule of law (with
Bhargavi Zaveri)
[Ajay Shah's blog] - Reducing
the cost of doing business in India: One example
(ADR/GDR regulations) (with Ajay Shah)
[Ajay Shah's blog] - SAT
order on NSE's actions after the Emkay
crash (with Chirag Anand)
[Ajay Shah's blog] - The
curious case of the MCA: A live example that
illuminates the Rajan critique of FSLRC
[Ajay Shah's blog] - Fixing
the Indian capital controls against DR issuance by
Indian firms (with Arjun Rajagopal)
[Ajay Shah's blog] - Concerns
about the Supreme Court on BCCI (with
Anirudh Burman)
[Ajay Shah's blog] - Sunshine
in the court room
[Ajay Shah's blog] - The
genesis of India's 'basic structure'
doctrine
[Ajay Shah's blog] - Foreign
direct investment in railways: Does national security matter?
[Polity in India blog]