SUPREME COURT

Abu Salem case: Issue of honouring India’s assurance to Portugal will arise only in 2030, govt. says in Supreme Court ( APR 19, 2022 )

The issue of honouring India’s assurance to Portugal while extraditing gangster Abu Salem that he will not be sentenced to death or life imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts will arise only in the year 2030, the Ministry of Home Affairs has told the Supreme Court.

Salem, represented by advocate Rishi Malhotra, was extradited from Portugal when India gave an assurance on December 17, 2002 that he would neither face death penalty nor imprisonment for over 25 years here  Salem has approached the Supreme Court, claiming India has violated the sovereign assurance by sentencing him to life imprisonment in the case.  

In a counter-affidavit, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla said Salem’s contentions were premature and based on hypothetical surmises. Mr. Bhalla said such contentions could not be raised in an appeal against his conviction in the blasts case.

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BOMBAY HIGH COURT

Court Lacking Jurisdiction To Appoint An Arbitrator, Cannot Do So Based No Objection By The Opposite Party: Bombay High Court ( APR 19, 2022 )

The Bombay High Court has ruled that a Court cannot appoint an Arbitrator when the only proceeding before it is an application for grant of interim measures under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (A&C Act), solely on the ground that the opposite party has not objected to the appointment of an Arbitrator.  The Single Bench of Justice Manish Pitale held that even if an arbitration clause exists, appointment of an Arbitrator can only take place in accordance with the law. The Court added that merely because no objection is endorsed by the opposite party, a Court will not be foisted with the jurisdiction to appoint an Arbitrator.

The High Court noted that during the pendency of the application for interim measures under Section 9, the respondent had moved an application for appointment of the specified person as an Arbitrator. The Court observed that the District Judge proceeded to appoint an Arbitrator on the ground that the petitioner had not objected to the appointment of the named person as an Arbitrator. 

The Court, therefore, quashed the order of the District Judge appointing an Arbitrator, while upholding the District Judge's order prohibiting creation of third-party rights in the specified property till culmination of the arbitral proceedings.The Court thus partly allowed the writ petition. 

 Case Title: Purushottam s/o Tulsiram Badwaik and Ors. versus Anil s/o Hariram Malewar and Ors.

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 SEBI

SEBI issues operational guidelines for “Security and Covenant Monitoring using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)” ( APR 18, 2022 )

 In order to strengthen the process of security creation and monitoring of security created, asset cover and covenants of the non-convertible securities, SEBI vide circular dated August 13, 2021 had specified the manner of recording of charges by Issuers and manner of monitoring by Debenture Trustees (DTs), Credit Rating Agencies, etc. and responsibilities thereof. Accordingly, with effect from April 01, 2022, the recording of asset details (and their verification), allotment, listing and payment of interest or redemption shall be available in the DLT system. Operational guidelines in this regard have been issued vide SEBI circular dated March 29, 2022.

 To ensure uniqueness of the assets of the issuer offered as security, appropriate validation/ duplicate checks based on parameters identified for each asset type have been put in place in the system. Debenture Trustees, on a yearly basis, shall also reconcile and eliminate duplicate entries for an asset in the system. Further, for data exchange and verification across depositories, format for unique Asset ID assigned to an asset has also been standardised to a 12-digit alphanumeric string. 

The said system is applicable to all the issuers proposing to issue non-convertible securities on or after April 01, 2022. However, a relaxation till July 01, 2022 has been provided to issuers who are unable to record details in the system after providing explanation to Depositories.

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RBI

Disclosures in Financial Statements- Notes to Accounts of NBFCs ( APR 19, 2022 )

Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) are required to make disclosures in their financial statements in accordance with existing prudential guidelines, applicable accounting standards, laws, and regulations. The additional disclosure requirements for NBFCs in accordance with the SBR framework are outlined in the Annex. 

These disclosures are in addition to and not in substitution of the disclosure requirements specified under other laws, regulations, or accounting and financial reporting standards. 

This circular is applicable to all NBFCs. The Annex specifies the applicability of specific disclosure requirements to specific NBFC layers as per Scale Based Regulation. 

These guidelines shall be effective for annual financial statements for year ending March 31, 2023, and onwards.

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MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE

THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (IDENTIFICATION) ACT, 2022 ( APR 18, 2022 )

The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 received the assent of the President on the 18th April, 2022 and is hereby published for general information.

An Act to authorise for taking measurements of convicts and other persons for the purposes of identification and investigation in criminal matters and to preserve records and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. BE it enacted by Parliament in the Seventy-third Year of the Republic of India.

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BUSINESS

After HDFC twin merger, L&T might merge Mindtree and LTI to create a $22 billion IT company, says a new report ( APR 19, 2022 )

After the merger of HDFC Bank and HDFC, the street might witness another merger of two major companies in the information technology (IT) industry, Mindtree and L&T Infotech (LTI) of Larsen & Toubro. L&T is considering a merger of its publicly traded IT companies, said a report by The Economic Times. 

 L&T acquired Mindtree in 2019 by claiming over 60% stake in the Bengaluru based technology services and consulting company.  Mindtree has a market capitalisation of ₹64,165 crore while LTI has a market cap of ₹1.01 lakh crore. Combining both the firms would make an entity worth around ₹1.65 trillion (around $22 billion).

Currently, TCS ranks first among IT firms with the highest market valuation. If the Mindtree-LTI merger takes place, the new entity will join bigwigs like TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech and Wipro.  Tech Mahindra, which is currently the fifth-largest IT company in India, will be out of the top five if the merger goes through.

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WORD OF THE DAY

Zcash (ZEC)

Launched in 2016 by Zooko Wilcox-O’Hearn and based on the Zerocoin protocol, Zcash (ZEC) is a decentralized and open-source privacy-focused cryptocurrency that enables selective transparency of transactions. Zcash transactions can either be transparent or shielded through a zero-knowledge proof called zk-SNARKs.

MARKET TODAY ( as on 19.04.2022 )

BSE SENSEX                    56,463.15 ▼ 703.59 (1.23%)

NIFTY 50                           16,958.65 ▼ 215.00 (1.25%)

DOLLAR VS RUPEE

1 US Dollar = 76.50 Indian Rupee ( April 19, 6:31 PM )

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