Athena Law Associates

We provide services in the niche area of indirect taxes, intellectual property right laws, trade laws including Anti Dumping and Safeguards and contract negotiation and contract drafting. Our endeavour is to serve our clients through consistently delivering high quality services. The emphasis is on hard work and continuous training which enable our people to provide services of highest quality. Our goal is to position ourself as the firm where clients come to us for their most challenging legal issues, most significant business transactions and most critical disputes.

Contact athena law

Head Office at Delhi: 808, L & T Building, Sector 18-B, Dwarka, New Delhi 110 078 Telephone: +91-11- 2456 9689, 4561 1851, Fax: +91-11-2803 1882 email: info@athenalawassociates.com

Branch at Orissa: Durga Bhawan, Plot No. 273D, Behind The world shopping mall, Nayapalli, Bhubaneswar, Orissa 751 012 Telephone: 094397 26148 email: bibek@athenalawassociates.com; bibekhalwai@yahoo.com

Athena law practice

The firm is a full service law firm directly handling following areas of law right from the advisory stage to litigation stage.

India currently follows a highly complex event based indirect tax regime. India being a federal country, power to levy tax is with Centre as also with the States. Centre levies Customs Duty, Central Excise Duty (other than liquor for human consumption), Service Tax and Central Sales Tax, whereas the States levy Sales Tax (also called VAT), State Excise Duty (Only on liquor) and Entertainment Tax, etc. This event based taxation is now proposed to be substituted with the advanced and more progressive Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime which shall be supply based.

Indirect Taxes

Indirect Taxes Intellectual property Trade Laws Commercial Services Contract Drafting
telecommunications, consultancy, softwares, etc. The endeavour of our firm therefore is to understand the dynamics of the business and then apply the law. We provide solutions to businesses and also do litigation for our clients. Cenvat Credit In order to charge tax only on value addition, the Cenvat credit scheme was introduced in India. Both excise duty and service tax are subsumed by the Cenvat rules and they allow setting off credit of both against either of the taxes. Opportunity to avail Cenvat Credit gives a direct value addition to businesses and is thus a key area in tax planning. The practice of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax invariably involves Cenvat Credit issues and all taken together forms the indirect tax code of India at the Union level. We endeavour to provide best of the services to our clients and handle diverse issues and matters both in consulting as also litigation of Cenvat Credit issues. Value Added Tax (VAT) The State Sales Tax Legislations were re-engineered and the new approach was referred to as VAT laws. Sales Tax is mainly a State subject, though CST is levied by the Union, the same is administered, collected and retained by the States. Therefore for all practical purposes, sales tax is a State subject. We specialise in dealing with Sales Tax issues. The unmatched combination of expertise in Union and State laws gives our firm the edge while strategising the businesses. Complete Indirect Tax support for any proposed business transaction is the hallmark of our firm. Apart from consulting, we have also been very active in litigating VAT matters across various states. SEZ/EOU/EHTP/STP (Special Zones) For promoting and simplifying exports, the Union of India has evolved various schemes such as the Special Economic Zones, 100% Export Oriented Undertakings, Electronic Hardware Technology Parks and Software Technology Parks. Establishing these Units involve evaluation of the benefits granted under the

Customs Duty Customs duty is levied on import and export of goods. For classification of goods, India follows HSN. We specialise in providing services relating to Customs duty issues including classification and valuation. The services include providing consultancy and representing the clients before courts and authorities in their litigations. Central Excise Duty Excise Duty is imposed on goods manufactured in India. We have a dedicated team of professionals who look after the diverse and complicated issues relating to Central Excise Duty. We provide both consultancy services and litigation services in respect of Central Excise Duty. Foreign Trade Policy and DGFT matters Export of goods from India and Import of goods into India is governed by the Foreign Trade Policy. DGFT i.e. the Director General of Foreign Trade is the administrative body which governs the foreign trade in India. The Foreign Trade Policy is closely knit with the Customs and Excise laws of India. We specialise in this field of law and provide both consulting as also litigation services. Service Tax Service Tax is levied on taxable services defined under section 65(105) of the Finance Act, 1994. Service Tax is undisputedly the largest growing indirect tax in India. Starting from a narrow base of three services and imposed at five percent in 1994 it has now widened its coverage to more than hundred category of services and the rate of service tax has also been increased to 10%. We have a highly specialised practice of service tax where we cater to the diverse needs of our clients spanning around different industries. Service tax is a tax typically on various commercial activities such as insurance,

scheme and the conditions laid down for availing the benefits. Once decided to opt for the scheme, there are various approvals and formalities involved for entering the regime of these schemes. We provide strategic services whereby the clients can take an informed decision which is best suited to their factual scenario. We also help the clients establish their entities in International filing of applications which include filing of overseas applications in India and filing of Indian applications abroad

WTO and Regional Trade Matters International trade has been liberalised
under GATT and other agreements under WTO regime. There is a further liberalisation of cross boundary trade at regional levels by entering into various regional preferential trade agreements. With liberalised cross border trade a number of domestic industries are complaining injury on account of increased imports and are seeking higher duty on the imports. The WTO agreements as an exceptional measure permit imposition of Anti Dumping duty, Safeguards duty and Counter vailing duty as the case may be for the protection of domestic industry. These three exceptional taxes are meant for three different situations which are mutually exclusive Anti dumping An application for imposition of anti dumping duty can be moved when exporter is dumping its product in overseas market at a price lower than the normal price. Counter vailing duty An application for counter vailing duty can be moved when the exporting government is giving subsidy on its export which is resulting into cheap imports in a member country.

Progressive taxation - GST

Proposed GSTA dual GST,

one at Central (CGST) and the other at State level (SGST) have been proposed apart from the IGST which shall be imposed by the Centre on all inter-state transactions.

The Government of India has appreciated the need of a supply based indirect tax regime instead of the present event based regime. The Government is keen to introduce the new system by April 2010 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The introduction of GST is a welcome step and we are fully geared to help businesses meet the challenge of GST. We are ready to help clients adapt their businesses and the accounting systems to the new system, and to identify the potential advantages. At the same time we shall also endeavour to help our clients against the challenges posed by the GST regime.

these special regimes. Once established, we also provide continued hand holding and support in complying with the day to day requirements.

Intellectual Property (IPR)

Over a period of time, intellectual properties have gained high importance in businesses. At times, the value of intellectual property of a business may be more than the physical assets employed therein. Thus we strive that our clients get appropriate IP protection.

We provide the following services in this field:

Safeguard duty An application for safeguard duty can be moved when there is a sudden and sharp increase in imports as a result of unforeseen developments causing injury to domestic industry. While in the case of anti dumping duty there is an alleged foul play on the part of exporter and in the case of counter vailing duty an alleged foul play on the part of exporting country, there is no alleged foul play on the part of exporter or exporting country in the case of safeguards duty. Thus safeguards duty is imposed purely for the protection of domestic industry on a no fault principle. We have successfully handled a number of cases in the above arena for imposition of duty as well as opposing the imposition of duty.

Patents
Drafting of patent Applications Office actions Patentability Analysis Freedom to operate analysis Patent invalidation Searches Prior Art searches Foreign filing permissions International filing of applications which include filing of overseas applications in India and filing of Indian applications abroad

Commercial Services, Negotiations and Contract In the

commercial field, the most significant aspect is helping the clients undertake their business smoothly. Understanding the commercial aspects of the clients business is the key. We at ALA have a unique combination of personnel i.e. technical persons, engineers, accountants and legal professionals. We strive to understand the fine niceties of the clients business and couple it with our legal expertise to give best of the solutions. We help businesses enter into commercial relations by helping them in negotiating the contracts, building

Trade marks
Drafting Applications Office actions Freedom to operate analysis Trademark invalidation of trademark

commercial and tax efficiencies in transactions, supply chain management and drafting contracts.

email-puneet@athenalawassociates.com Mob-+91 9891898911

Mr. M. S. Pothal Director and Anti Dumping Head

Key Personnel
Mr. Pramod Kumar Rai Managing Partner Mr. Pramod Kumar Rai is the Managing Partner of athena law associates. He is an Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and an Ex Indian Revenue Service officer (Joint Commissioner in Central Excise & Customs). Mr. Rai holds a Gold Medal in law (LLB) and has also earned a Master degree in Law from the oldest public grant University of United States, namely the University of Georgia, on a 100% university funding. Mr Rai is also a registered patent agent for filing domestic as well as international patent applications. Mr. Rai combines a rare techno-legal background and brings along with him ten years of his diverse and rich experience as a Tax Administrator with Govt. of India. In the Government apart from his executive functions, he has acted as a quasi judicial authority in more than thousand taxation disputes. He regularly appears in the courts, tribunals and before Designated Authorities for Anti Dumping and Safeguards and has argued in over a thousand cases till now. Contact Mr. M. S. Pothal at: email: mspothal@athenalawassociates.com Mob-+91 9650807635 Contact Mr. Pramod Kumar Rai at: email - pramod@athenalawassociates.com Mob - +91 9899428589 Bibek Halwai Bhubaneswar Branch Head Mr. Bibek Halwai holds an honours degree in commerce and has done Chartered Accountancy with distinction. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India since 2006 Before ALA, he has worked with Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan, Advocates and has worked extensively on variety of Indirect tax issues. He has handled matters of clients from diverse industries and has represented them before various courts and tribunals. Mr. Bibek specializes in indirect taxes, negotiations, business structuring and contract drafting. Contact Mr. Bibek Halwai at: Email - bibek@athenalawassociates.com; bibekhalwai@yahoo.com; Mob - +91 9439726148 Mr. M. S. Pothal is a First Class Commerce Graduate with Distinction from Utkal University and a qualified Chartered Accountant. He is an expert on Trade Protection Measures under WTO. Mr. Pothal has been instrumental in numerous antidumping investigations in India and abroad.

Before ALA, he worked with TPM Consultants, New Delhi. Mr. Pothal has distinction of working with renowned companies in India and abroad in anti dumping and allied investigations. He has worked in close coordination with industry associations and other bodies like CII, FICCI, ICWAI, DGAD etc for the augmentation of anti dumping mechanism in India.

Mr. Pothal specializes in Anti Dumping, Counter Veiling and Safeguard measures and has represented Domestic producers, exporters and importers in more than 100 cases of Anti Dumping, Anti Subsidy and Safeguard cases in India and abroad before competent authorities.

Mr. Puneet Agrawal Partner Mr. Puneet Agrawal holds an honours degree in commerce from the Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University. He completed his law from the Delhi University. He has also done Chartered Accountancy and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He was meritorious in the Chartered Accountancy and was awarded scholarships by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He was among the top 0.1% students of the Central Board of Secondary Education. Before ALA, he worked with Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan, Advocates and worked extensively on a variety of Indirect tax issues. He has handled matters of clients from diverse industries and have represented them before various courts and tribunals. His field of specialisation is indirect taxes, negotiations, business structuring and contract drafting. He has a flair for lecturing and training and has been regularly delivering talks at law colleges, regional councils and study circles of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He was also felicitated by the Northern India Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India for Commendable Contribution to the Profession. Contact Mr. Puneet Agrawal at: