Tag: Corporate Criminal Liability
-
MCA Circular on Prosecution of Directors
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] One of the disincentives that operate against directors, particularly non-executive directors, is that they are often susceptible to prosecution for offences committed by the company that it not within their knowledge. Occasionally, innocent directors have been subject to victimization by requiring to answer allegations that are often frivolous in nature. This…
-
Procedural leniency under the Negotiable Instruments Act
[Posted by Shantanu Naravane] Over the past few years, the Supreme Court has gone a long way towards reducing the use of section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (“Act”) as the basis for the vicarious liability of directors. In February last year, National Small Industries v. Harmeet Singh Pantial, the Supreme Court emphasised the…
-
The Court of Appeals on Dishonest Assistance
[Posted by Shantanu Naravane] The United Kingdom Court of Appeals recently considered an interesting case concerning the standard of dishonesty required to hold a person guilty of assisting in the breach of trust. The factual background in Starglade Properties v. Roland Nash is complex, but for the purposes of this discussion, it is sufficient to…
-
Some further thoughts on Iridium/Motorola: Deviating from Meridian?
[Posted by Mihir Naniwadekar] As Mr. Umakanth discussed in this post, the Supreme Court of India in Iridium India Telecom v. Motorola Inc. (Criminal Appeal No. 688 of 2005, judgment dated October 20, 2010) has confirmed that companies can be prosecuted for offences involving mens rea. The Court in Iridium appears to have approved of the…
-
Corporate Criminal Liability: The Iridium/Motorola Case
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The judgment of the Supreme Court in Iridium India Telecom Ltd. v. Motorola Inc. is now available on JUDIS (date: 20 October 2010). M.J. Antony has a summary and analysis of the case in the Business Standard: The question of punishing a corporation came up recently in the Supreme Court in…
-
Should Shareholders Pay for Corporate Misconduct?
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The U.S. SEC’s settlement last week with Citigroup has revived the debate about the efficacy of payments by way of settlements, fines and penalties by companies as a consequence of breaches of law. Under this settlement, Citigroup is required to pay $75 million for making “misleading statements about the extent of…
-
Bhopal Gas Disaster Case
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The Law and Other Things Blog links to Frontline’s extensive coverage of the judgment rendered last week by the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Bhopal. It also provides a detailed account of the twists and turns encountered by various parties to the litigation for the last 25 years.
-
Director and Officer Liability for Dishonour of Cheques
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] (The following post has been contributed by Avirup Bose. Avirup is an Indian lawyer, who has graduated from NUJS Kolkata and has an LL.M from the Harvard Law School) On July 6, a Division Bench of the Supreme Court passed a judgment in K.K. Ahuja v. V.K. Vora (MANU/SC/1111/2009, per R.V.…
-
SFIO: Its Role and Track Record
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Although the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), set up under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, has been in existence for over 5 years now, its role has been accentuated owing to the recent turn of events at Satyam Computers. The SFIO has been charged with the task of investigating the fraud…