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Corporate Criminal Liability in India
Introduction to Corporate Criminal Liability Corporate criminal liability in India has evolved significantly over the years, reflecting the growing complexity of business operations and the need for accountability in the corporate sector. This legal concept holds companies responsible for criminal acts committed by their employees, directors, or agents. In India,
SEBI: SEBI IMPOSES PENALTY ON DEALING IN ILLIQUID STOCK OPTIONS AT THE BSE
In Re Ashok Kumar Sharma HUF, the SEBI undertook to investigate the trading in illiquid stock on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The bench observed that of the total trading in the stocks, 81.40% were non-genuine. The adjudicatory authority initiated the proceedings against the noticee for contravening the reg. 3(a),(b),(c),(d)
BOMBAY HC: OFFENCES UNDER IBC ARE NOT TRIALABLE BEFORE ASJ
In a writ petition decided by a single bench headed by Justice Sandeep K. Shinde, the HC quashes the ‘issue process’ by ASJ against the petitioner. HC considered the issue of whether ASJ can ‘issue process’ on a complaint filed by IBBI. The single bench held that the process was
ALLAHABAD HC: HC ISSUES NOTICE IN WRIT AGAINST DRTS AND CONDONED GOVT. FOR UNTIMELY APPOINTMENT OF PO
In a writ petition filed before Allahabad HC, a bench comprising Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh issued a notice to Finance Ministry, Union Government. The writ petition was filed against the vacant post of PO/Chairman of DRAT, lying vacant for almost more than three months. The single bench observed that DRT/DRAT
CCI: CCI IMPOSES PENALTIES ON MARITIME TRANSPORT COMPANIES FOR CARTELIZATION
3-member bench of CCI, consisting of Mr A.K.Gupta, Ms Sangeeta Verma, and Mr B.S.Bishnoi, in a suo-moto case, imposed penalty on Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and Nissan Motor Car Carrier Company (“OP”) for violation of sec.3 of the Act for cartelisation against
SEBI: BARS FORMER MD AND CEO OF NSE FROM THE SECURITIES MARKET FOR LEAKING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
SEBI in an order passed by Sh. Ananta Barua imposes a penalty on NSE Ltd., its former MD & CEO for sharing confidential information with a purported ‘spiritual guru’, along with other ex-officials for making misleading statements to SEBI w.r.t. to the arbitrary appointment of NSE’s Advisor to MD and
SEBI: SEBI PROHIBITS RHFL, ANIL AMBANI AND 3 KMPs OF RHFL FROM MARKET FOR STEALING FUNDS
SEBI, vide a 100-page interim order passed by Mr S.K.Mohanty in proceedings against Reliance Home Finance Ltd. (‘Company’/‘RHFL’), held the Company along with Anil D. Ambani (Chairman of Reliance Group – ‘Noticee 2’) and 3 other KMPs of the Company liable for the violation of corporate governance regulations. The Regulator
NCLAT: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DHFL AND NHB IS NOT JUST A DEBTOR-CREDITOR RELATIONSHIP; NHB CAN NOT BE COMPARED TO OTHER FINANCIAL CREDITORS
Appeals challenging NCLT’s order were dismissed by NCLAT headed by Justice M.Venugopal, Mr V.P. Singh and Dr A.K.Mishra, which holds, inter alia, that any funds received by DHFL (Corporate debtor) for the purpose of repaying or realizing loans refinanced by National Housing Bank (the ‘Respondent’) and remaining outstanding will be
SC: RIGOURS OF SEC. 45 OF THE PMLA ACT ARE APPLIED WHEN ANTICIPATORY BAIL IS SOUGHT IN CONNECTION WITH A PMLA OFFENSE
A Division bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice C.T. Ravikumar, strikes down the decision of the Telangana High Court granting anticipatory bail for the Respondent in the proceedings pertaining to PMLA. SC further remands the case to the Telangana High Court for reconsideration of
GUJARAT HC: HOLDS EVERY OFFENCE PUNISHABLE UNDER N.I. ACT COMPOUNDABLE
In the Maheshsinh Babusinh Zala case, the applicant was found guilty of an offence punishable u/s 138 of the NI Act(“the Act”). In light of the amicable settlement of the dispute between the parties, the complainant has filed an affidavit stating that a quashing and setting aside of the conviction
ITAT: DISALLOWANCE FOR FAILURE TO DEDUCT TDS SHOULD BE LIMITED TO A 30% FINE
In an appeal decided by ITAT in Draipl-Mskel (JV) case, the assessee’s asserted interest expense was denied by the AO due to the failure to deduct TDS. Additionally, the CIT later confirmed the AO’s disallowance (A). The question before the appellate tribunal is whether the disallowance of the expense should
ITAT: NO CAPITAL GAIN TAX IS PAID ON A DISPUTED PENDING SHARE TRANSFER
In an appeal decided in the Anil Kumar Saha case the appellate authority noted that in scrutiny assessment by, AO observed that the assessee had received Rs.40 crores from ILFS on account of shares of ATS Estate (P.) Ltd., conditionally as per the terms of the Share Purchase and Shareholder
NCLAT: NCLAT ORDERED A STAY ON THE ORDER OF CCI PUNISHING THE MD OF CARLSBERG, LISTED FOR HEARING ON 29TH MARCH
The Delhi NCLAT bench comprising Justice M. Venugopal, Learned V.P. Singh and Dr A.K.Mishra stayed the CCI order punishing the MD of Carlsberg (‘Appellant’) directing him to not resort to practice in contravention of Sec.3 of the Competition Act/the Act on paying a 10% penalty amount as penalised by the
SEBI: FIVE TITAN EMPLOYEES PENALISED FOR INFRINGING THE NORMS OF DISCLOSURE AS PER PIT REGULATIONS
The bench was presided over by Ms Soma Majumder (Adjudicating Officer) wherein the noticees who are five employees of Titan were penalized for an amount of INR 1 Lakh by SEBI for not disclosing trading in shares of Titan amounting to approx. INR 10 Lakh violating the PTI regulations as
SEBI: TWO FORMER MINDTREE EMPLOYEES PENALISED FOR INFRINGING THE NORMS OF INSIDER TRADING
The noticees who are the two former employees of Mindtree were penalized by SEBI for an amount of INR 1 Lakh for causing loss to the investors of Mindtree and failing to submit the disclosures on time regarding trading in the shares of Mindtree which resulted in the infringement of
ORISSA HC: REJECTS DEMAND NOTICES FOR DUES OF MINING DEPT. BEFORE THE APPROVAL OF THE RESOLUTION PLAN
Orissa HC’s division bench composed of Chief Justice Dr S. Muralidhar along with Justice A.K. Mohapatra rejected the demand notices for dues issued by the mining dept. (‘Respondent’) against Ferro Alloys (undergoing CIRP – ‘Appellant’) as the demand notices issued by the Respondent were pertaining to before the resolution plan’s
NCLAT: NCLAT UPHELD THE ORDER OF NCLT WHICH REJECTED THE APPLICATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE COC OF ‘SUPERSEDED DIRECTORS’ OF DHFL
The New Delhi NCLAT bench presided by Justice M. Venugopal, Learned V. P. Singh and Dr Ashok Kumar Mishra upheld the order of NCLT which rejected the application to participate in CoC of ‘superseded directors’ (‘Appellants’) on the Board of Directors (‘BoD’) of DHFL. The bench ruled that a promoter
NCLAT: FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS DURING CIRP CAN NOT BE FORCED BY RP TO ADOPT A NON-FUND-BASED FACILITY
In an appeal heard by the NCLAT bench composed of Justice M. Venugopal, Hon’ble V. P. Singh and Dr Alok Srivastava held that the construction of Sec.17(1)(d) of IBC that FI “shall act on the instructions of the IRP” should not be interpreted to force a FI to adopt Non-fund
DELHI HC: HC ISSUES NOTICE TO IBBI IN A PLEA AGAINST DIRECTORS OF SUCCESSFUL BIDDERS FOR VIOLATING THE APPROVED BID
In a plea filed before the Hon’ble Delhi HC’s single bench headed by Justice Mukta Gupta by directors of successful resolution applicant (‘SRA’) against the IBBI complaint filed against the petitioners, HC has issued notice to IBBI. The HC summoned the petitioners for violating the approved resolution plan. The petitioners
SC: APEX COURT TO CONSIDER APPEAL AGAINST THE ORDER OF NCLAT ON THE GOODS OF THE CORPORATE DEBTORS LYING IN THE CUSTOMS STORAGE
The 3-Judge Bench of the Apex Court presided by Chief Justice N. V. Ramana, Justice A. S. Bopanna and Justice Hima Kohli heard an appeal against the NCLAT order by the Liquidator of ABG Shipyard, on February 8, 2022. As per the earlier decision of NCLAT, it was pronounced that
NCLT: CREDITORS DIRECTED BY NCLT TO HANDOVER THE MORTGAGED PROPERTY OF CORPORATE DEBTOR FOR SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS
The division bench of NCLT Kochi presided by Hon’ble Shyam Babu Gautam and Hon’ble Ashok Kumar Borah directed the Respondents to forward/handover the physical possession of the secured asset of Corporate Debtor to the Applicant so that the same can be utilized as the Liquidation Estate. The Hon’ble bench observed
SC: APEX COURT UPHOLDS THE ADVANCE PAYMENT FOR GOODS’ SUPPLY TO CORPORATE DEBTOR TO BE ‘OPERATIONAL DEBT’
The 3-Judge Apex Court Bench presided by Justice Dr Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Vikram Nath dismissed an order of the NCLAT set aside the Appellant’s application under sec.9 of IBC, and held that the Appellant fell within the scope and definition of ‘operational creditor’, clarifying that
NCLT: KOCHI NCLT REJECTED THE APPLICATION WHICH SOUGHT DISMISSAL OF RP’S REPORT DIRECTING CIRP PROCEEDINGS TO BE INITIATED AGAINST THE PERSONAL GUARANTORS
The division bench of the Kochi NCLT presided by Hon’ble Shyam Babu Gautam and Shri. Ashok Kumar Borah set aside the application seeking dismissal of the RP report and suggesting admission of the application against the personal guarantors(“Appellant’) under sec.95(1) of IBC filed against the appellant with the motive to
NCLAT: DIRECTORS WHO HAVE SUCCEEDED ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO PARTAKE IN MEETING OF CoC
In an appeal decided by NCLAT in the Dheeraj Wadhawan case, the Appellant had filed the instant appeal against the Miscellaneous Application under sec.60(5) of IBC in order to seek participation in CoC’S meetings of DHFL, the Hon’ble NCLT dismissing the application upheld that the Appellant being the former member
NCLAT: SHARE CAPITAL REDUCTION IS A DOMESTIC CONCERN OF A FIRM
In an appeal decided by NCLAT in the Economy Hotels case, a division bench of Justice Venugopal M. and Kanthi Narahari pronounced that capital reduction as per sec.66 of the Companies Act is a domestic concern of a corporate entity and hence, a Tribunal will not intervene on the ground
NCLAT: NCLAT ASKED COC TO REEVALUATE THE APPROVED RESOLUTION PLAN AND HELD RESOLUTION APPLICANT CAN NOT EVADE THE OUTCOME OF TRANSACTIONS
The NCLAT bench composed of Justice M. Venugopal, Dr A.K. Mishra and Mr V. P. Singh decide an appeal against the NCLT order approving the resolution plan (“RP”) as presented by Piramal /Successful Resolution Applicant (‘SRA’) and DHFL/Corporate Debtor. The question before the Appellate Tribunal was that if the possibility
P&H HC: HC UPHOLDS THE VALIDITY OF THE TRIAL COURT’S ORDER FOR ALLOWED EVIDENCE UNDER THE NI ACT
P&H HC upheld the Trial Court’s decision of setting aside the Petitioner’s case and allowed the evidence of the Respondent Company under Sec.138 read with Sec. 141 and 142 with the NI Act (“the act”). HC pronounced that the motive and intent of the statute would be nullified if the
ITAT: CONVERTIBLE WARRANT FORFEITURE CAUSES STCL
In an appeal decided by the division bench constituted of Sh. V.D. Rao and Sh. M.K. Aggarwal, ITAT held that the assessee/appellant’s right to acquire shares would expire upon forfeit of the converted warrant. Appellate Tribunal noted that a share in a firm denotes a share in the ownership of
MADRAS HC: WHEN THE COMPANY IS CHARGED WITH THE OFFENCES UNDER PMLA, THE DIRECTOR IS LIABLE TO FACE THE TRIAL
The Madras HC division bench presided by Justice S. Vaidyanathan and Justice G. Jayachandran dismissed a petition of a company’s shareholder/ promoter (‘Petitioner’) who was charged for the offences committed under the PMLA. The petition sought for recalling the summons issued by the ADJ, which had called the Petitioner in
NCLT: LACK OF ANY ADVERSE OBSERVATIONS BY THE AUTHORITIES IS EQUIVALENT TO NO OBJECTIONS, SANCTIONS MERGER SCHEMES
The Amravati NCLT bench approved the merger scheme as proposed by the Transferor (Petitioner) and the Transferee, observing that the scheme was accepted and approved by the required majority of shareholders and creditors of the petitioner. The petitioners submitted that if merely 7 shareholders have raised any objection with regard
NCLAT: REJECTED THE ORDER OF NCLT WHICH DISMISSED THE INSOLVENCY INITIATION BASIS OF “INCORRECT PREMISE”
The New Delhi NCLAT bench allowed an appeal against the NCLT order which rejected a Sec.9 application filed by the Operational Creditor (‘Applicant’) which sought to initiate the insolvency process. The Appellate Tribunal rejected the NCLT order on the ground of “incorrect premise”. The Appellant submitted that though the NCLT
NCLT: TO ACHIEVE THE THRESHOLD AMOUNT FOR IBC, INTEREST CAN NOT BE ADDED TO THE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT
New Delhi NCLT bench presided by Learned L. N. Gupta and Learned A.B.K. Sinha held that in order to arrive at the minimum limit amount of INR 1 Cr. the interest cannot be added with the principal amount to be in line with Sec.4 of Code. The bench observed that
NCLAT: A LOAN GIVEN BY A CORPORATE DEBTOR’S FORMER DIRECTOR IS A ‘FINANCIAL DEBT’
The Chennai NCLAT bench, composed of Justice M. Venugopal and Shri. K. Narahari dismissed the order of NCLT which had rejected the application filed by the former director (‘Appellant’) u/s. 7 of IBC/Code which sought for the initiation of the CIRP against the corporate debtor contending that the Appellant’s loan
MADRAS HC: THE PROVISION UNDER PMLA PUTTING A BAR ON BAIL PETITIONS ‘CONSTITUTIONAL’ AND BINDING UPON THE ACCUSED WHILST THE MATTER IS PENDING BEFORE SC
The division bench of Madras HC presided by Justice M. Duraiswamy and Justice J.S.N.Prasad rejected a petition which sought for bail to the petitioners who were arrested u/s. 3 of PMLA (‘the Act’) by ED. The bench held that this court is reluctant to hold that petitioners are unlikely to
SC: IN THE PROCESS OF LOTTERY TENDERING CCI IS EMPOWERED TO INVESTIGATE INTO ANTI-COMPETITION FACTORS
The division bench of SC presided by Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice M. M. Sundresh ruled that the Lotteries (Regulation) Act regulates the business of lottery; however, if there is any anti-competition aspect in the process of lottery tendering, which warrants investigation by the commission, the same can be permitted
CCI: CCI FOUND KSBC NOT GUILTY OF HAVING THE DOMINANT LOCUS IN THE MARKET FOR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
In a case decided by Mr A.K. Gupta, Ms S. Verma, and Mr B.S.Bishnoi, CCI rejected a complaint by informants, inter-alia, claiming Kerala State Beverages (Manufacturing and Marketing) Corporation Ltd (“KSBC/OP”) violating sec. 4 of the Act by single-handedly deciding contract price for the distribution and purchase of branded alcoholic
SAT: SAT QUASHES INR 6.5 LAC PENALTY FOR NON-ADHERENCE TO MPS
In an appeal decided by Justice T. Agarwala and Justice M T Joshi, SAT quashes INR 6.5 Lakh penalty on the appellant for non-compliance with minimum public shareholding (‘MPS’) requirement and violation of SEBI circulars by using the non-prescribed method to meet MPS norms. However, the Appellate Tribunal upholds INR
NCLT: INSURER DEEMED TO BE ‘OPERATIONAL CREDITOR’ IF ‘INSURED’ ASSIGNS DEBT LEGALLY
A division bench of NCLT headed by Sh. Anil Kumar B. and Sh. A.K. Borah, allowed an Insurance Co.(“Applicant”)’s plea to initiate CIRP against Debtor/Respondents as the insured had assigned the debt to the Applicant legally. NCLT observed that the applicant has established that u/s 5(20) of IBC, operational creditor
NCLAT: CIRP UNDER SEC.7 SHALL OVERRIDE THE MORTGAGE DEED AS PER SEC.238 OF THE CODE
NCLAT bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhusan, Justice J.K. Jain and Dr Alok Srivastava, rejects the appeal of the corporate debtor’s suspended director (“Appellant”) against the NCLT order whereby the tribunal admitted a claim of the financial creditor (“Respondent”) for CIRP under sec.7 of IBC/Code against the corporate debtor on
NCLAT: NCLAT APPROVES THE ERICSSON MERGER, AND DISCARDS MEETINGS OF SHAREHOLDERS & CREDITORS FOR THE MERGER OF THE WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY AND PARENT CO.
In an appeal decided by Justice A.B. Singh and Ms Shreesha Merla, NCLAT set aside NCLT’s order rejecting Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd. and Ericsson India Global Services Pvt. Ltd.(“Appellants”)’s plea to do away with Shareholders’ and creditors’ meetings despite the merger of Appellants, i.e., parent company and its 100% owned