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Retail

Premises, licensing, regulatory and civil recovery work arising from retail operations in India.

Overview

Solaris Legal acts for retailers, including the Indian subsidiaries of international retail groups, in the disputes and regulatory questions that store operations generate. The work centres on premises: agreements to lease, leases of retail space, extensions, relocations, termination and compulsory acquisition of leased land, before the commercial courts, the High Courts and arbitral tribunals. The firm advises on municipal trade licences for proposed stores and on foreign exchange compliance for foreign single-brand retailers expanding in India, and defends retailers in civil recovery actions.

The legal framework

Retail leases are governed by the Transfer of Property Act 1882 and the Registration Act 1908, with specific performance under the Specific Relief Act 1963. Disputes proceed before commercial courts under the Commercial Courts Act 2015, the High Courts and arbitral tribunals under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996. Store operations engage municipal licensing law, the Legal Metrology Act 2009, the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and the Consumer Protection Act 2019. Foreign investment in retail trading is governed by the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 and the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules 2019.

Scope

  • Advice to retailers on leasehold rights under the Transfer of Property Act 1882, including lease extensions agreed in correspondence and relocation to new premises.
  • Suits for specific performance of agreements to lease retail premises where a landlord or developer resiles, with interim orders restraining the creation of third party rights over the premises.
  • Arbitration under lease deeds over wrongful termination, security deposits and damages, including applications for appointment of the arbitrator, interim measures and contempt, and execution and challenge proceedings.
  • Defence of retail occupiers impleaded in rent recovery suits between landlords and third parties, and of retailers in other civil recovery actions, before the commercial courts and High Courts.
  • Advice to lessees on the proposed acquisition of leased land by a public authority, including notice and the right to object, and writ petitions challenging the acquisition.
  • Municipal trade licence advice for proposed stores under the municipal legislation in force in the city concerned, including the competent authority, the statutory basis and the licence fee.
  • Foreign exchange compliance under the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 and the rules made under it for foreign single-brand retailers expanding their activities in India.
  • Disputes under construction and maintenance agreements for store premises, from pre-litigation advice to litigation before courts across India.
  • Petitions under section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 to quash first information reports against a retailer's directors and officers where the dispute is civil in nature.
  • Advice on ransomware attacks affecting retail groups where customer data is exposed, within the firm's cyber incident response and data privacy practices.