In a major decision on the liberalisation of India’s legal market, the nation’s top court has ruled that foreign law firms are still not permitted to establish permanent offices in the country, but that they are allowed to advise on non-Indian law matters on a temporary basis.
In a 52-page decision handed down by the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday (13 March), a two-judge bench agreed with lower courts that international law firms should be allowed to give foreign law advice to clients on a so-called ‘fly-in, fly-out’ basis in India, but that foreign lawyers cannot set up offices in the country.
