We have previously discussed the Bimal Jalan Committee report on “Review of Ownership and Governance of Market Infrastructure Institutions”. The report has been subject to intense debate, and the overwhelming view emerging is that the recommendations will destroy competition in the sphere. In this post, I attempt to list some of the relevant readings on this issue: – Views in the Business...
“Professional” Independent Directors
In a recent Economic Times column, Prof. T.T. Ram Mohan discusses the concept of a professional board propagated by Lee Pozen in the Harvard Business Review (Dec. 2010, p. 50). The idea goes as follows: The author, Robert Pozen, lists reasons why boards are ineffective. They are too large (the average size of the top 500 companies in the US was 11 in 2009). Members lack domain expertise (only one...
Competition Commission decision on Bank Prepayment charges: The Meaning of ‘Agreement’
The Competition Commission of India has issued its order in Case No. 5/2009 (decision dated 2nd December 2010), Neeraj Malhotra v. Deutsche Post Bank Home Finance Ltd. and others. A copy of the majority (4-2) decision is available here. Two dissenting orders are available here and here. The decision and the dissents demonstrate divergent approaches over the meaning of the term ‘agreement’ for...
The Supreme Court in BSNL v Reliance: Penalty and Liquidated Damages
The complexity of the distinction between penalties and liquidated damages in English law is amply borne out by the fact that even McGregor’s remarkably concise and insightful account is forced to begin with a seventeenth century statute (18th edition, ¶¶13.001 onwards). For an elaborate account of the law, interested readers may refer to Chitty on Contracts (30th edition, ¶ 26-010 onwards)...
The Problem of Limitation under the Arbitration Act
In Union of India v. Microwave Communication, the Delhi High Court was called on to consider a very important issue relating to the relationship between the Arbitration Act and the Limitation Act. In a remarkably clear decision, involving the interpretation of decisions of the Supreme Court and conflicting dicta from High Courts, the Court concluded that all provisions of Limitation Act, except...
Recent Comments