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EOI for Empanelment of Law Firms in C-DOT

Document ID CDOT/LEGAL/EMPANELMENT/2020-2025

Document Name EOI-Empanelment of Law Firms in C-DOT

Date 07.02.2020

Source of

document

Empowered Committee for Empanelment of Law Firms in C-DOT

Copyright © 2020 by C-DOT All rights reserved. Contents of publication may not be

reproduced in any form without permission from C-DOT

Expression of Interest (EOI) for Empanelment of Law

Firms for Providing Legal Services to C-DOT

Acronyms

C-DOT - Centre for Development of Telematics EOI - Expression of Interest LLP - Limited Liability Partnership Ltd - Limited SOC - Schedule of Charges Misc. - Miscellaneous

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Expression of Interest (EOI) For Empanelment of

Law Firms for providing Legal Services to C-DOT

I. Expression of Interest

Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), is an autonomous

Telecom R&D Centre of DoT, Government of India. C-DOT is

carrying out advanced research and developmental activities in Telecom

and wishes to set up a new panel of law firms to handle legal

services, and invites expression of interest for the same.

The legal requirements of C-DOT are three-fold, namely, the

Organizational requirement, Business-related (Covering Commercial

and Financial Aspects) and Employee related requirements. The Law

Firm must be well acquainted with corporate-legal issues along with

an expertise in commercial-contractual discipline, and also in

Administrative and Labor Law. As a telecom R&D organization, C-

DOT executes NDAs, MOUs, SLAs, B2B Contracts, Rate contracts,

AMCs, Purchase Tenders highly technical in nature from national

and international suppliers, transfer of telecom technology and

software agreements with various public, private, inter-governmental

and international entities.

C-DOT is a Telecom R&D which develops high-end technology and

transfers it to the manufacturing partners by way of technology

transfer for which TOT and Royalty Agreements are entered. While

doing so, if there is any conflict with regard to the involvement of

third party System Integrators or with any OEMs (Original

Equipment Manufacturers), not in accordance to the agreement or if

there is any default in receipt of TOT and Royalty fee, the law firm

should be capable enough to issue notices to the defaulters and also

provide appropriate responses/replies to the notices received from

such TOT Partners and also efficiently represent C-DOT in the

arbitration relating to such TOT and Royalty Agreements. In finance

arena, issues relating to taxes such as TDS, GST emerge and the law

firm should be capable enough to handle those matters.

In the issues relating to Employees, the law firms must be capable of

handling all matters relating to employment in C-DOT, the service

matters including promotions and other service conditions,

employment contracts, internal disciplinary action, RTI Matters,

SC/ST (POA) Act, Labour law related issues etc.

The law firm should be competent enough to handle international

compliance, which includes representation at appropriate forums (if

required, either directly or indirectly) and help in procedural matters.

Based on the above-mentioned C-DOT requirements, the law firms

must be capable of rendering appropriate legal opinions when sought

for and also must deliver effective services in representing C-DOT

before various judicial and quasi-judicial forums.

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The selection and empanelment of the law firm will be based on C-

DOT evaluation. The advertisement does not constitute and will not

be deemed to constitute any commitment on the part of C-DOT for

the empanelment. C-DOT reserves the right to reject any EOI if it is

not in the given format, at any time, a material misrepresentation is

made or uncovered, or the firm does not respond promptly and

thoroughly to requests for supplementary information required for

the evaluation of the EOI.

The Law firms registered under Indian Law having a good standing

are eligible for empanelment. The Qualification, Experience,

Schedule of Fees, Other Terms and Conditions and the application

format in which the application has to be made, have been prescribed

and are as given below. The Law Firms currently associated with

C-DOT are required to apply afresh, for the aforementioned

period, to this empanelment notice.

II. Definitions

For the purposes of these Guidelines, the terms used will have the

following meaning;

(i) ‘Advocate’ means an advocate, entered in any roll of advocates

under the provisions of The Advocates Act, 1961. (The Act)

(ii) ‘Competent Authority’ shall be C-DOT or any other officer/head

of department so designated by the C-DOT Board.

(iii) ‘Court’ shall mean all courts of law including District Courts,

High Court, Supreme Court, Tribunals, Judicial Forums, Quasi-

Judicial forums and Arbitral tribunals etc.

(iv) ‘Effective Hearing’ shall mean a hearing in which either one or

both parties involved in a case are heard by the Courts / arguments

were advanced by the Counsel of any of the parties, Examination-in-

chief, cross examination is conducted, issues/charges has been

framed and/or statement is recorded under the applicable laws. For

clarity, fixation of next date alone in a matter, shall not be

considered ‘Effective Hearing’.

(v) ‘Non-effective Hearing’ shall mean all hearings which are not

covered in the above definition of effective hearing.

(vi) ‘Similar Cases’ shall mean two or more cases in which identical or

substantially similar questions of law and/or facts are involved.

III. Eligibility criteria

(i) The Law firm must be registered under Indian Law and

should have good standing for at least a period of 10 years as

on 1st Jan 2020.

(ii) The Advocates/ Firms should be familiar with all branches of

law especially those concerning laws of Regulatory matters

related to Telecom, service matters, contract law, commercial

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law, Transfer of Technology and Royalty matters, property

laws, taxation and other relevant laws. It should be

compatible with the above mentioned three-fold legal

requirements.

(iii) For empanelment with C-DOT, the senior most Partner of the

firm must have at least fifteen (15) years of experience as a

practicing Advocate in High Court(s)/Supreme Court.

(iv) The Firms should contain at least 3 Partners and 5 Senior

Associates.

(v) Infrastructure Facilities:

a) Advocates/ Firms should have their own chambers in

Supreme Court, High Court or major District Courts or

should have good office space with facilities like

telephone, fax, computers, internet, etc.

b) The advocate/ firm must have adequate manpower.

c) The office of the advocate/ firms should be situated in

Delhi/Bangalore. Firms having a branch office in Delhi

AND Bangalore are desirable.

(vi) The responses to EOI to be invited only from Law firms

strictly and not from any individual advocates/legal

practitioners.

IV. Tenure of Empanelment

The term of empanelment will be for a period of (5) five years

from the date of the empanelment contract between C-DOT and

the Law Firm. The performance of empaneled firms shall be

under review by C-DOT Legal Group. At any point of time, if

the services are found unsatisfactory or if there is any delay of

services, C-DOT reserves the right to terminate the empaneled

law firm.

V. Payment of Fee and Other Conditions

(i) The fee payable to the Advocates shall be governed by the

Schedule of Charges annexed as Annexure-I. C-DOT invites

quotations for the same, from the applicant law firms. C-DOT

will only pay the amount as stated in the schedule of charges

and no additions/amendments to be made to the rates quoted

throughout the term of empanelment. No Hidden Charges shall

be payable. Cost-Effectiveness will be preferred.

(ii) No retainer fee shall be paid to any panel Advocate/law

firm merely because such advocate/firm has been empaneled.

(iii) The Empaneled law firm may also be given operational

freedom, subject to approval of competent authority, to hire

subject matter expert/lawyer, in the best interests of C-DOT.

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A write up about C-DOT and its functions are

available along with the following forms in

www.cdot.in. Interested law firms may

download forms and submit the same to the

address mentioned here by post/courier latest

by 29.02.2020 17:00 Hrs . The application form

and all the enclosures should be substantiated

with relevant documents and must be signed by

an authorized person of the firm. The entire

application along with all enclosures and all

relevant documents, signed by authorized

person, must also be scanned and the copy of

the same must also be mailed to (as a whole or

in parts), ‘legal@cdot.in’. The Subject of the

mail must clearly specify the law firm’s name.

Annexure – I Schedule of Charges

A. Application form

B. Profile of the firm

C. Profile of Partners and Senior Associates of the Firm

D. Information and Instructions for Applicant

E. Terms of work after empanelment.

F. Debarring provisions or removal from panel

C-DOT will not be held responsible for the

delay in postal/courier service and you are

requested to take care of the same.

Address to send & Point of Contact for any

clarification

-------------------- Head –Legal, C-DOT

Centre for Development of Telematics,

C-DOT Campus, Mandi Road, Mehrauli,

New Delhi – 110030.

Point of Contact .: +91-9984871716(Executive –

Legal, Delhi), +91-9952922260(Executive – Legal,

Bangalore) Website: www.cdot.in Mail id:

legal@cdot.in

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ANNEXURE-I- (SCHEDULE OF CHARGES)

Sl. No. Description Amount

1. Fee for study of a new case (one time)

2. Supreme Court

Appearance in Suits, Writ Petitions and Appeals

For Effective Hearing

(per case per day of

effective hearing)

For Non-Effective

Hearing

(per case per day of

non-effective hearing)

Preparation of Special Leave Petition, Appeal, Writ

Petition, Replies, Counter Affidavit, Rejoinder,

Replications, Written Statement/ Plaints/ Suits/ Claim

and Counter Claim, Written Synopsis each time

Each time

Miscellaneous Application/Misc. Civil

Petition/Interlocutory Applications/ Replies

thereto/Interim Application and its Replies etc.

Each time

Fee for filing Caveat

Appearance before Registrar, Dy. Registrar, Joint

Registrar

Per appearance

Clerkage (Subject to maximum of 10%) %

Affidavit by way of evidence per affidavit

3. High Court and Tribunals

Appearance in Suits, Writ Petitions and Appeals,

including oral Applications for Leave to Appeal to

Supreme Court in Writ Petitions.

For Effective Hearing

(per case per day of

effective hearing)

For Non-Effective

Hearing

(per case per day of

non-effective hearing)

Preparation of Petition/Appeal, Writ Petition, Replies,

Counter Affidavit, Rejoinder, Replications, Written

Each time

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Statement/ Plaints/ Suits/ Claim and Counter Claim,

Written Synopsis each time

Application for Leave to Appeal to Supreme Court in

Writ Petitions-

(per case)

Settling pleadings (per case)

Fee for filing Caveat

Miscellaneous Application, Misc. Civil

Petition/Interlocutory Applications/ Replies

thereto/Interim Application and its Replies etc.

per case

Appearance before Registrar, Dy. Registrar, Joint

Registrar

Per appearance

Clerkage(Subject to maximum of 10%) %

Affidavit by way of evidence per affidavit

4. District Court

Appearance in Suits

For Effective Hearing

(per case per day of

effective hearing)

For Non-Effective

Hearing

(per case per day of

non-effective hearing)

Preparation of Reply, Petition/Appeal, Rejoinder,

Written Synopsis each time, Petition in Recovery

suits,

Miscellaneous Application, Misc. Civil

Petition/Interlocutory Applications/ Replies

thereto/Interim Application and its Replies etc.

per case

Fee for filing Caveat

Clerkage (Subject to maximum of 10%) %

Affidavit by way of evidence per affidavit

5. Arbitration

Fee for study of a new Arbitration Matter (one time)

Preparation of each Statement of Claims, Reply

Rejoinder, Counter Claim and Rejoinder in Counter

Claims etc.,

Appearance fee per day before the Arbitral Tribunal -

Effective

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Appearance fee per day before the Arbitral Tribunal –

Non-effective

Drafting of Misc. Application/Reply/Rejoinder

Clerkage (Subject to maximum of 10%)

6. Written Opinion

Minor – Less than 7 pages

Major – More than 7 Pages

7. Drafting of Legal Notices/replies thereto.

Provided that if substantially identical Notices/Replies

are drafted in connected cases, only one drafting fee

will be payable in the main case and no separate

drafting fee will be paid in connected cases.

8. Vetting of documents - Minor (less than 7

pages)

Vetting of documents - Major (more than 7 pages)

9. Out of Pocket Expenses Subject to production of

actual supporting bills

and vouchers to the

satisfaction of C-DOT.

10. Fee for appearance/outstation visit

Air Fare - As per the

lowest prevailing air

fares as on the date.

Accommodation -

C-DOT Guest House at

Delhi and Bangalore. In

case of non-availability

of Guest House, the

accommodation

expenses would be:

For Senior Partners: Rs.

5000/night

For Partner: Rs.

4000/night

For Senior

Associate/Associate/Oth

ers: Rs. 3000/night *the above rates are

inclusive of all taxes

applicable.

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*All applicable taxes will be deducted at Source. (Sign and Seal)

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A. Application form

From:

(Name and Designation),

(Firm Name and Address).

To:

Head-Legal, C-DOT,

Centre for Development of Telematics,

C-DOT Campus, Mandi Road, Mehrauli,

New Delhi – 110030.

Website: www.cdot.in

Mail id: legal@cdot.in

Subject: Submission of Expression of Interest for "Empanelment of Law Firms for

providing Legal Services to C-DOT for the period of 2020-2025."

Sir,

Having examined the details given in the Terms and conditions of the Expression of

interest for the above work, I, on behalf of the Law Firm ___________________hereby

submit this application to C-DOT.

1. I hereby undertake that I am authorized to submit this application on behalf of

the Law Firm.

2. I hereby certify that all the statements made and information furnished is

true and correct.

3. I have furnished all information as required in "Profile and Professional

Competencies of the firm" which is necessary for EOI and have no further

pertinent information to supply.

4. I also authorize C-DOT to approach individuals, employees, firms and

corporation to verify our competence and general reputation.

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5. I will make comprehensive presentations before officials of the C-DOT at

various stages to explain the functioning and other matter necessary for the

empanelment for the attorney.

6. I submit the following documents in support of our suitability, technical

know-how and professional capability.

7. I agree to all the terms and conditions of C-DOT mentioned in the EOI

Kit.

Enclosures:

1. SCHEDULE OF CHARGES QUOTATION (AS PER ANNEXURE-I)

2. PROFILE OF LAW FIRM (REFER THE DETAILS BELOW)

3. PROFILE OF THE PARTNERS AND SENIOR ASSOCIATES/ASSOCIATES OF THE FIRM 4. SIGNATURE AND SEAL ON TERMS - (D) TO (F)

Date of submission Seal of applicant

Signature of Applicant

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B. PROFILE OF THE LAW FIRM

1. Full Name of the firm.

2. Complete Address of main office and branch offices along with

telephone numbers, email address of the Firm, internet web address (es).

3. Place of work: firm owned/leased – details pertaining to all locations.

4. Date of establishment of the firm.

5. Legal Status of the firm (attach attested copies of original document –

whether Partnership or LLP or Company etc.)

6. Particulars of the Registrations/Certifications if any with various

government/non-governmental bodies/partnership firms (attach attested

photocopy)

7. Particulars of the memberships/partnership if any with other Law Firms

or with various government/non-governmental bodies (attach necessary

proofs)

8. Articles and Memorandum of Association

9. Partnership agreement, if any between the firm and its partner clearly

highlighting the scope of work for each

10. Details of PAN (Permanent Account Number), TAN (Tax Deduction and

Collection Account Number), GST and any other Important Registration

No. may also be provided

11. Audited Balance sheet for last three financial years.

12. Number of professionals (Partners, Senior Associates and Associates)

presently employed with the firm and their profiles (Profiles of Partners,

Senior Associates and Associates to be provided).

13. Areas of specialization of the Firm and its Partners.

14. (a) Number of litigations, arbitration proceedings handled by the firm

pertaining to Contractual Matters, Service Matters, Transfer of Technology

& Royalty Issues, Taxation Matters, Cyber Law Matters by the firm; (b)

Number of litigations & arbitrations decided in favor of the client(s); (c)

Success rate of the decided cases in favor of the client(s).

15. Details of other government organizations where you have been currently or

previously empaneled and the number of years associated with. (attach

copies of such empanelment)

16. Experience in Drafting NDAs, MOUs, TOT Agreements, SLAs (National

and International)

17. Procedures adopted by the firm in regard to maintaining security of

information related to hard copies and computer-based transaction

exchange of information between the clients and the firm.

18. Testimonials/references from the present clients.

19. Any other information considered necessary but not included above.

(Signature, name and designation of the authorized

Signatory)

For and on behalf of------------

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C. PROFILE OF PARTNERS & SENIOR ASSOCIATES OF THE FIRM

a. Name

b. Date of birth

c. Educational qualifications (Certificates in support)

d. Date of Enrolment & Name of Bar Council (Copy of enrolment certificate and Id Card must be attached)

e. Period of practice

f. Major areas of practice

g. Details of Experience/practice /achievements

i. Experience in Arbitration /Supreme Court/ High Court/Lower Court (Details like number of Cases

Handled, Success Rate, and details regarding representation of other Govt/PSU/Statutory

Bodies/Telecom Sector organizations etc.)

ii. Achievements, if any

h. Date of enrollment as an Advocate – on – Record (AOR) of the Supreme Court and Registration No. (If Applicable)

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D. Information and Instructions for Applicant

1. All information called for should be furnished against the relevant items

in the prescribed forms. If for any reason, information is provided in a

separate sheet, this fact should be mentioned against the relevant

column. Even if no information is to be provided in a column, a 'nil" or

"no such case" entry should be made in that column. If any

particulars/query is not applicable in case of the applicant, it should be

stated as "not applicable". The applicants are cautioned that not giving

complete information called for in the application forms or not giving it

in clear terms or making any change in the prescribed forms or

deliberately suppressing the information may result in the applicant

being summarily disqualified. Applications made by telegram or telex

and those received late will not be entertained.

2. The applicant should sign and seal in each page of the application

including all documents and forms listed herein i.e., from A to F.

3. Overwriting should be avoided. Correction, if any, should be made by

neatly crossing out, initialing, dating and rewriting. Pages need to be

numbered. Additional sheets, if any added by the service provider,

should also be numbered by him.

4. References, information and certificates from the respective clients

certifying suitability and capability of the applicant should be duly

signed and sealed.

5. The applicant may furnish any additional information which he thinks is

necessary to establish the capabilities of the firm to successfully

complete the envisaged work. It is, however, advised not to furnish

superfluous information. No information shall be entertained after

submission of EOI document unless it is called for by C-DOT.

6. All the information furnished by the applicant under ‘Part B. Profile of

the Firm’ must be substantiated with appropriate documentary proofs.

Applications without the necessary documentary proofs will be

summarily rejected.

7. Any information furnished by the applicant found to be incorrect either

immediately or at a later date, would render him liable to the termination

of the contract.

8. Any effort on the part of the applicant or his agent to exercise influence

on C-DOT in any manner in the empanelment would result in rejection

of his application.

9. Any application received after deadline for submission of bid prescribed by

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C- DOT will be rejected.

10. The Law firms will have to give presentation to C-DOT about their proposal

on a suitable date, in case requested by C-DOT. Representatives from C-

DOT may visit the offices of the applicant law firms to ascertain the

infrastructural/resource capabilities of the firm.

11. The application of the law firm will constitute an, ‘offer’ and the same may

be accepted by C-DOT. The decision of C-DOT in this empanelment will

be final and binding. The same cannot be challenged before any forum.

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..

E. TERMS OF WORK AFTER EMPANELMENT

1. Any change in the constitution of the Law Firm e.g.: Joining of

a new Partner, Exit of Partners/Senior Counsels and/or change in

the nature of the firm e.g.: Name of company or type like Ltd,

LLP etc. must be notified to C-DOT with the copy of the

supported documents.

2. If there arises a conflict of interest between the Law Firm and

C-DOT, such conflict of interest must be explained in writing

in detail to C-DOT. In case of non-communication in writing

regarding such conflict of interest, C-DOT reserves the right to

remove the law firm from the panel.

3. All the services to be billed in line with approved SOC.

4. C-DOT provides no commitment as to the number of Cases to be

handed over to any of the empaneled law firms throughout the

period of empanelment. No sort of queries/requests/demands

will be entertained in this behalf.

5. C-DOT reserves the right to allocate the cases to any of the

empaneled law firms and the decision of C-DOT will be final

and binding in this regard. No sort of queries/requests/demands

will be entertained in this behalf.

6. In case if any of the services fall out of SOC, the charges payable

will be decided by the competent authority. The competent

authority will take into consideration charges of similar

heads/events while deciding such charges.

7. All the litigations to be taken up by the empaneled firm/advocate

after receiving written instruction from C-DOT. C-DOT pays

post execution of services upon receipt of the actual invoices

along-with the necessary proofs / Official Acknowledgements /

receipts.

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8. The law firm should be capable of handling an imminent legal

emergency situation/legal action for C-DOT. It will be the sole

discretion of C-DOT to decide such situations requiring

emergency/imminent legal action.

9. Both title and numbers related to the case to be reflected in the

subject of E-mail communication.

10. After each action, the filed documents, invoices and the relevant

proofs shall be sent to C-DOT in a single email followed by

hardcopies in the same manner.

11. Each invoice should contain the title, number, description of the

service rendered and split up of the charges.

12. After Empanelment the law firm/advocate must enter into a

confidentiality and Non-disclosure agreement with C-DOT for

maintaining strict secrecy and confidentiality regarding the

information shared.

13. The empaneled law firm is also expected to send letters,

explaining the turn of events in all matters being handled, in

simple legal language.

14. If required, the law firm must engage in meetings with the

higher officials /legal team/employees of C-DOT. It must extend

support to the legal team, as and when required.

15. The law firms/advocates empaneled will provide quality

services within reasonable time frames.

16. The law firm should be competent enough to handle

international compliance, which includes representation (if

required, either directly or indirectly) and help in procedural

matters.

17. The above-mentioned terms are for reference purpose and is not

an exhaustive list of terms of work after Empanelment. A

detailed contract as well as NDA will be signed with the

Empaneled Firm

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F. DEBARRING PROVISIONS OR REMOVAL FROM PANEL

1) The advocate or law firm may (on discretion of C-DOT) be debarred from

empanelment present and /or in future,

a. If the law firm obtains the empanelment on the basis of false information/ mis-statement.

b. It does not take up work in terms of empaneled letter.

c. Handing over the brief of matter to another advocates or law- firms

without prior written permission of C-DOT.

d. It fails to abide by advocate- client privileges.

e. Fails to maintain/honor confidentiality and secrecy of the C-DOT's data,

statement and any other information.

f. Fails to attend the hearing of the case without sufficient reason or prior

information to C-DOT.

g. Passing of information relating to C-DOT’s case to opposite party or

their advocates, etc. which is likely to damage or cause damage to the

C-DOT's interest, legal or otherwise.

h. Giving false and/or misleading information to C-DOT relating to the

proceedings of the case.

i. Threatening and/or intimidating and/or abusing any of the employees or

officers or representatives of C-DOT.

j. Not returning the brief when demanded or not allowing or evading to

allow its inspection on demand.

k. If. the law firm indulges in any misappropriation of C-DOT funds in

any form OR/AND Committing an act tantamount to contempt of court

or professional misconduct.

l. Not acting as per C-DOT's specific instruction repeatedly.

m. Frequent adjournment being obtained or not objecting the adjournment

moved by other party without sufficient reason.

Empanelment shall be liable to be cancelled consequent upon occurring of

any or all of the above said conditions/events.

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