Legal advice on FEMA compliance, NRI property disputes, cross-border transaction documents, and disputes in India involving non-residents. The work is legal only: drafting, advisory opinions, regulatory compliance and dispute resolution before Indian courts.
Legal opinions on Foreign Exchange Management Act compliance for Indian residents and NRIs
Title disputes, partition suits, and recovery of property by Non-Resident Indians
Legal compliance review for outbound remittances
Disputes in India arising from cross-border contracts and property
Legal review of shareholder agreements and share purchase agreements
Legal compliance for entities receiving foreign contributions
Legal opinions on Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement applicability to specific transactions
Legal advice on wills and succession for families with members abroad
Confidential discussion of the legal questions and the underlying transaction or dispute.
Review of how FEMA, RBI directions, and any applicable treaty apply to the facts.
A written legal opinion or advisory note covering compliance and risk.
Where required, drafting or review of agreements, undertakings, and regulatory filings.
Where a matter goes to litigation, representation before the appropriate Indian forum.
In-depth notes on the substantive law, procedural framework, and strategic considerations for this practice area. Written by Advocate Subodh Bajpai for clients, junior counsel, and others researching this area of Indian law.
Legal questions in transactions involving Indian residents and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) arise under several statutes: the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 (FEMA) and the rules, regulations and directions made under it, including the Liberalised Remittance Scheme; the Income-tax Act 2025 (which replaced the Income-tax Act 1961 from 1 April 2026) and the applicable Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement; the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010 for entities receiving foreign contributions; the Indian Succession Act 1925 and the personal laws for estates; the Transfer of Property Act 1882 for property transactions; and the Registration Act 1908 for documentation.
Unified Chambers And Associates provides legal advice on these matters. The chambers do not provide investment advice — investment advice in India is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and is not part of legal practice under the Bar Council of India Rules. What the chambers offer is legal advice on the regulatory, contractual and dispute aspects of cross-border transactions.
FEMA governs foreign-exchange transactions involving persons resident in India — outbound investment by residents, investment in India by persons resident outside India, and remittances in either direction. The detailed framework is in the rules made by the Central Government (including the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules 2019 and the Foreign Exchange Management (Overseas Investment) Rules 2022), the regulations made by the Reserve Bank of India, and the RBI's master directions.
Work in this area includes legal opinions on specific transactions: outbound remittances by resident individuals under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (currently USD 250,000 per financial year, for permitted purposes); investment by NRIs through NRE and NRO accounts under the Non-debt Instruments Rules; overseas direct investment by Indian entities under the Overseas Investment Rules and Regulations 2022; and compliance for cross-border share transfers, property acquisitions and inheritance.
Property disputes involving NRI parties commonly include title disputes against unauthorised occupants, partition among co-owners and family members, recovery of possession from tenants who refuse to vacate, succession disputes over inherited property, and challenges to transactions executed without the NRI's knowledge during absence from India.
Several procedures reduce the need for the client's continuous presence in India: a properly executed and authenticated power of attorney; the recording of evidence on commission under Order XXVI of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, including for witnesses outside India; and examination by video conference where the court permits it under the Delhi High Court's rules for video conferencing. Documents executed abroad need to be authenticated and stamped as Indian law requires before they are used in India.
Transactions between India and the UAE give rise to particular categories of dispute: cross-border investment and share-purchase disputes, property and rental disputes involving Indian investors in the UAE or UAE residents owning property in India, succession disputes for families with assets in both countries, and FEMA questions arising from remittances.
The chambers practise Indian law. Questions governed by UAE law require advice from counsel qualified in the UAE. On the Indian side, the legal framework includes FEMA, the India-UAE Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement and the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
Succession for cross-border families involves several frameworks: the Indian Succession Act 1925 for testamentary succession, the Hindu Succession Act 1956 and the other personal laws for intestate succession, the succession law of the other country for assets there, FEMA for the transfer of inherited assets across borders, and the tax treatment of inheritance in each country.
Work in this area includes drafting wills for Indian assets with attention to how they will operate alongside succession rules elsewhere, advice on joint ownership and survivorship for property in different countries, and proceedings in Indian courts on disputed succession, probate and letters of administration.
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010 (FCRA) governs the acceptance and use of foreign contributions by associations, trusts, NGOs and other persons in India. The 2020 amendment tightened the framework: foreign contributions must be received in the designated FCRA account at the branch of the State Bank of India in New Delhi notified by the Central Government (Section 17); transfer of foreign contribution to any other person is prohibited (Section 7); and the share of foreign contribution that may be used for administrative expenses is capped at twenty per cent (Section 8). Non-compliance can lead to suspension or cancellation of registration and prosecution.
Work in this area includes advice on registration and prior permission, annual returns, the structure for receiving and using foreign contributions within the Act, and proceedings arising from suspension or cancellation of registration.
Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements between India and other countries affect the tax treatment of cross-border business income, employment income, capital gains, dividends and interest. Work in this area includes legal opinions on whether a treaty applies to a particular transaction, the Tax Residency Certificate and other documents required to claim treaty relief, and proceedings on the interpretation of treaty provisions in disputes with the Income Tax Department.
DTAA opinions are fact-specific. An opinion addresses whether a specific transaction qualifies for a specific treaty benefit, the legal basis for that conclusion, and the documentation required.
Not by purchase. Under the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, an NRI or an OCI cardholder may acquire immovable property in India other than agricultural land, a plantation or a farm house; those may be acquired only by inheritance.
Yes. The practice covers title disputes, partition suits, recovery of possession and other property litigation in India involving non-resident Indians.
No. The chambers practise Indian law. Where a matter also involves a foreign jurisdiction, lawyers qualified in that jurisdiction act on the foreign-law aspects.
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