Category: Uncategorized
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Imminence of Merger Control Provisions
Although the draft of the merger control regulations under the Competition Act, 2002 were issued as early as January 2008 (more than a year ago), they are yet to be enacted. Specifically, there were concerns from industry that the scope and ambit of the regulations were too wide and onerous. Now that the new Government…
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Shareholder Activism and Class Action Lawsuits
Recent developments in the Indian corporate sphere – Satyam being the prime example – have raised several calls for instilling the culture of shareholder activism in India. One key form of such activism that keeps companies under check is the availability of class action lawsuits for securities law violations by companies, their promoters or managers.…
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Service Tax on Renting Immovable Property
A recent decision of the Delhi High Court in Home Solution Retails v. Union of India has caused some interesting issues concerning service tax to resurface. Admittedly, the law laid down by the Court is not new. However, the factual backdrop of the decision, and the debate it has given rise to, make the decision…
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Focus: India 2009
(About a week ago, the National Law School at Bangalore hosted Focus: India 2009, which was designed to discuss and facilitate greater dialogue on pertinent economic and legal issues. In the following post, Sandeep Uberoi, Convenor of Focus: India, 2009 reports on the highlights of the event) Focus India Conference was held on the 15th…
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Pyramid Saimira and the Powers of the SEBI
A few weeks ago, the SEBI passed an order (WTM/KMA/60/04/2009) in the Pyramid Saimira case, which raises questions pertaining to insider trading. The order resulted from SEBI’s investigation into the affairs of Pyramid Saimira, highlighted in this post. The particular sequence of events is discussed in several reports, linked here and here. In its order…
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Electoral Verdict to Spur Reforms
With the return of the Congress government to power and with Dr. Manmohan Singh set to continue as Prime Minister, corporate India is likely to witness a series of reforms in the near future. Unlike the previous stint where the Government was hamstrung by coalition politics (but nevertheless achieving a record rate of economic growth),…
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A Call for Greater Shareholder Rights under U.S. Law
The proposed Shareholder Bill of Rights Act of 2009 in the U.S. that comes in the wake of the financial crisis gives rise to an important debate regarding the rights of shareholders in companies. The rationale for the Bill is the perceived failure of corporate governance that led to the crisis. It is worthwhile to…
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More Uncertainty in the Law on Penalties
Earlier posts have noted and examined a few recent decisions of the Supreme Court and the ITAT on the law governing the imposition of penalties under the Income Tax Act, 1961. In what is perhaps the best restatement of the position of law today, the Pune Bench of the ITAT appears to have altered the…
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Mobile number portability on the horizon
Mobile number portability (MNP) enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile numbers when changing from one mobile network to another. Often, the only reason that keeps customers from changing operators is the lack of number portability. The inconvenience of having to change phone numbers on business cards and other documents, informing contacts of new…
