Contracts, agreements, and statutory documentation, drafted to be read literally — because
the document is what a court, a counterparty, or a regulator actually reads later, not the
conversation that produced it.
Most of what a business actually runs on is documentation — vendor agreements, offer
letters, NDAs, MoUs, notices — not litigation. The Indian Contract Act, 1872 sets what
actually makes an agreement enforceable (offer, acceptance, consideration, capacity, free
consent), but enforceability in India also runs through two things a template downloaded
online rarely gets right: stamping and execution.
An unstamped or under-stamped agreement isn't automatically void, but under Section 35 of
the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, it generally can't be admitted as evidence in court until the
deficient duty and a penalty are paid — which means the clause a business is relying on in
a dispute can be unusable exactly when it matters most. Stamp duty itself is state-specific,
so the same agreement can carry a different duty depending on where it's executed.
Qalve's approach treats the document the way it will actually be tested — read literally by
someone with no context on the negotiation that produced it. That means drafting against
what the Contract Act, the Stamp Act, and (where relevant) the Information Technology Act,
2000 actually require, not against what a template happens to include.
This practice also covers the moment a relationship goes wrong before it becomes a dispute:
legal notices, cease-and-desist correspondence, and replies to notices received — drafted to
preserve the position that goes to
Arbitration & Dispute Resolution
if it comes to that.
Scope of advisory
What this covers
Commercial Contracts
Vendor & supplier agreements — terms that actually reflect what was negotiated, not a boilerplate purchase order.
Service & consultancy agreements — scope, deliverables, and payment terms drafted to prevent the most common billing disputes.
Distribution & franchise agreements — territory, exclusivity, and termination terms that hold up when a relationship ends badly.
NDAs & MoUs — confidentiality and pre-contractual understandings scoped to be enforceable, not just symbolic.
Employment & HR Documentation
Offer letters & employment agreements — compliant with state-specific Shops & Establishment rules as well as the Contract Act.
POSH policy & Internal Committee documentation — required for any workplace of ten or more employees under the 2013 Act.
Termination & severance documentation — drafted to reduce wrongful-termination exposure, not just formalise a decision already made.
Notices & Correspondence
Legal notices — demand notices, cheque-bounce notices under the Negotiable Instruments Act, and statutory pre-suit notices.
Cease-and-desist correspondence — for IP, contractual breach, or defamation, coordinated with the relevant practice.
Replies to notices received — preserving a client's position without conceding what shouldn't be conceded.
Dispute-Adjacent Drafting
Settlement agreements & consent terms — drafted to actually close a dispute, not leave room to reopen it.
Affidavits & statutory declarations — prepared for filing before courts, tribunals, or regulators.
§ Governing framework
The statutes this is argued from
A contract is only as strong as the statute it's tested against.
Primary statute
Indian Contract Act, 1872
Stamping
Indian Stamp Act, 1899 (+ applicable state stamp schedule)
E-signature validity
Section 10A, Information Technology Act, 2000
Specific performance
Specific Relief Act, 1963 (as amended, 2018)
Restraint of trade
Section 27, Indian Contract Act, 1872
Workplace harassment policy
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013
Registration (select documents)
Registration Act, 1908
§ Process
How we work
01
Instruct
Understand what the document actually needs to survive — the counterparty, the likely dispute scenario, and the governing jurisdiction.
02
Draft
Prepared against the Contract Act's actual requirements for a valid, enforceable agreement — not a template.
03
Stamp & Execute
Correct stamp duty and proper execution — signatures and witnesses where required — so the document holds up as evidence.
04
Hold
Retained and version-controlled, ready to be relied on if a dispute or audit ever needs it.
§ Who this serves
Client archetypes
First-time founders
Formalising vendor, employment, and founder relationships for the first time with proper documentation.
Growing companies
That have relied on downloaded templates and want a documentation review before it becomes a liability.
HR teams
Needing compliant offer letters, termination documentation, and a POSH policy that meets the statutory bar.
Businesses in a dispute
Sending or responding to a legal notice, and needing their position preserved correctly on paper.
Is a contract not signed on stamp paper valid in India?
It can still be a valid contract between the parties, but an unstamped or under-stamped instrument generally cannot be admitted as evidence in an Indian court until the deficient duty and penalty are paid — under Section 35 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899. In practice, that means the agreement can exist but becomes very hard to actually enforce if a dispute reaches court.
Are digital signatures legally valid on Indian contracts?
Generally yes, under Section 10A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which recognises electronic contracts and electronic signatures. There are specific carve-outs, though — negotiable instruments, powers of attorney, trusts, wills, and most real estate conveyance documents still require a physical signature and, for some, registration.
What makes a legal notice different from an ordinary letter?
A legal notice formally records a demand or position by citing the specific legal basis for it, and often has to precede litigation as a matter of law or procedure — for example, a notice under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 before a cheque-bounce complaint, or a notice under Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 before suing the government. Skipping the right notice can get an otherwise valid claim thrown out on a technicality.
Does every company need a POSH policy?
Any workplace with ten or more employees is required to have an Internal Committee and a policy against sexual harassment under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 — this applies regardless of company size or sector, and is one of the most commonly overlooked documentation requirements for growing companies.
Can a non-compete clause actually be enforced in India?
Rarely, once employment has ended. Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 voids any agreement that restrains a person from exercising a lawful profession, trade, or business — Indian courts have consistently struck down post-employment non-competes on this basis, while reasonable confidentiality and non-solicitation clauses, and restraints operating during employment itself, are treated very differently.