Blog Posts
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Vodafone’s Petition Dismissed by the Bombay High Court
It appears that the Bombay High Court has dismissed Vodafone’s writ petition challenging the jurisdiction of the Indian income tax authorities. Reports – the Wall Street Journal, ET, Reuters and Indian Express – are sketchy on the precise basis of the decision. We will discuss the implications in detail once a copy of the judgment…
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The Rangaraj-Madhusoodhanan Conflict and the “Reformulation” of Rangaraj in Para 55 of Messer Holdings
Section 111A of the Companies Act, 1956, is perhaps the most significant unresolved controversy in contemporary Indian corporate law. The blog noted today that a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court (Messer Holdings) has held that a private arrangement between shareholders conferring a right of first refusal is not contrary to s. 111A of…
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A twist in the tale: Share transfer restrictions in a public limited company legal?
A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court has ruled in Messer Holdings Limited v. Shyam Madanmohan Ruia that a private arrangement between shareholders of a public limited company on a voluntary basis relating to share transfer restrictions (right of first refusal) is not violative of Section 111A of the Companies Act, 1956. The judgement…
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Parliamentary Standing Committee on Companies Bill, 2009
It has been reported that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has its made recommendations upon review of the provisions of the Companies Bill, 2009. Discussions reveal that in some areas the Standing Committee’s recommendations seek a reversal of the position stated in current version of the Companies Bill. On one hand, the standing committee…
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Nomination for LexisNexis Top 25 Business Law Blogs 2010
We are pleased to share with our readers the following communication received from LexisNexis: Each year, LexisNexis honors a select group of blogs that set the online standard for a given industry. I’m pleased to notify you that Indian Corporate Law Blog is one of the nominated candidates for the LexisNexis Top 25 Business Law…
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Barclays Order: ODI Restrictions Lifted by SEBI
In December 2009, we had discussed SEBI’s order whereby Barclays was found to have failed in complying with certain disclosure norms while issuing offshore derivative instruments (ODIs) under the SEBI (Foreign Institutional Investors) Regulations, 1995. For this, SEBI had prohibited Barclays from issuing, subscribing or otherwise transacting in any ODIs until reporting systems are put…
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Participatory Notes Fall in Popularity
After initially cracking down in 2007 on indirect investment routes such as those using participatory notes (P-notes), SEBI a year later reversed its decision and allowed foreign investors to participate in the Indian markets through P-notes. SEBI’s decision to allow P-notes was the subject-matter of critique on this Blog as it raises questions regarding transparency.…
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Cooperatives and Producer Companies
In this Mint column, Narayan Ramachandran calls for a shift in attention from the classic corporate model of limited liability companies to a cooperative model that involves “a voluntary agreement to share, for the mutual benefit of all parties”. Although India is no stranger to the cooperative model (as the author demonstrates), it is the…
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Service Tax on Software Upheld
In 2005, the Supreme Court held that the transfer of branded software constitutes a sale and is exigible to sales tax, levied by State Governments under Entry 54, Schedule VII of the Constitution (Tata Consultancy Services v. State of AP). I have argued elsewhere that this decision may, with respect, require reconsideration on the question…
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Extending Securities Regulation to the Fourth Estate
A free and active press generally provides impetus for instilling enhanced corporate governance practices in any economy, as it does in India. However, conflicts of interest that the media faces may create distorted incentives that dilute these objectives. One such conflict is presented by the concept of “private treaties” whereby media enterprises take stakes in…
