Winding up petition by the unpaid employee whether sustainable- capj-sept 2017CS (Dr)Rajeev Babel
My article published in Manupatra's Chartered Accountant's Practice Journal, September 2017 issue.
The Trade Union, for and on behalf of the its members can certainly prefer a winding up Petition as contemplated under section 439 of CA 1956. This is for the simple reason that if the workmen have not been paid their wages and/or salary by the Company, they would certainly be a creditor or creditors as contemplated under section 439(1)(b) of the CA, 1956. Section 15 clearly mandates that the Trade Union can take up this cause for and on behalf of its members. Hence, after complying with the provisions of section 434 of the Companies Act, 1956 the Trade Union would certainly be competent to present a winding up Petition. After the enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code), an operational creditor may also file an insolvency petition against a Corporate debtor on the occurrence of a default.
Penalty for non furnishing of information on combination under section 42 a o...CS (Dr)Rajeev Babel
My Article published in the Manupatra's Competition Law Review- Jan 2017 issue.
SUMMARY:
The Supreme Court in the case titled Chairman, SEBI v. Shriram Mutual Fund has opined that mens rea is not an essential ingredient for contravention of the provisions of a civil act. The penalty is attracted as soon as contravention of the statutory obligations as contemplated by the Act is established and, therefore, the intention of the parties committing such violation becomes immaterial. In other words, the breach of a civil obligation which attracts penalty under the provisions of an Act would immediately attract the levy of penalty irrespective of the fact whether the contravention was made by the defaulter with any guilty intention or not.
The Tribunal opined that the CCI has power to approve a combination under section 31 and such approval neither obliterates nor condones contravention, for which penalty is to be imposed under section 43A and, thus, penalty under section 43A is leviable even if combination has no appreciable adverse effect on competition. The Tribunal held that the Appellants failed to notify proposed combination to CCI as required under section 6(2), penalty under section 43A was to be imposed upon appellant even though combination was approved by CCI.
My article published in Competition Law Reports - July 2017.
WhatsApp is the most used consumer communication apps. In a case, presented by one of the user of the WhatsApp before the CCI, alleged that WhatsApp has infracted the provisions of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002 and is indulging in predatory pricing. Further the conduct of WhatsApp is in breach of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the right to privacy.
The CCI opined that although WhatsApp is in a dominant position in the relevant market, however, the allegations of predatory pricing, have no substance and the WhatsApp has not contravened any of the provisions of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002 hence no prima facie case of contravention of the provisions of Section 4 of the Act is made out against the WhatsApp. The CCI further opined that the allegations of breach of the Information Technology Act, 2000 do not fall within the purview of examination under the provisions of the Competition Act.2002.
Winding up petition by the unpaid employee whether sustainable- capj-sept 2017CS (Dr)Rajeev Babel
My article published in Manupatra's Chartered Accountant's Practice Journal, September 2017 issue.
The Trade Union, for and on behalf of the its members can certainly prefer a winding up Petition as contemplated under section 439 of CA 1956. This is for the simple reason that if the workmen have not been paid their wages and/or salary by the Company, they would certainly be a creditor or creditors as contemplated under section 439(1)(b) of the CA, 1956. Section 15 clearly mandates that the Trade Union can take up this cause for and on behalf of its members. Hence, after complying with the provisions of section 434 of the Companies Act, 1956 the Trade Union would certainly be competent to present a winding up Petition. After the enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code), an operational creditor may also file an insolvency petition against a Corporate debtor on the occurrence of a default.
Penalty for non furnishing of information on combination under section 42 a o...CS (Dr)Rajeev Babel
My Article published in the Manupatra's Competition Law Review- Jan 2017 issue.
SUMMARY:
The Supreme Court in the case titled Chairman, SEBI v. Shriram Mutual Fund has opined that mens rea is not an essential ingredient for contravention of the provisions of a civil act. The penalty is attracted as soon as contravention of the statutory obligations as contemplated by the Act is established and, therefore, the intention of the parties committing such violation becomes immaterial. In other words, the breach of a civil obligation which attracts penalty under the provisions of an Act would immediately attract the levy of penalty irrespective of the fact whether the contravention was made by the defaulter with any guilty intention or not.
The Tribunal opined that the CCI has power to approve a combination under section 31 and such approval neither obliterates nor condones contravention, for which penalty is to be imposed under section 43A and, thus, penalty under section 43A is leviable even if combination has no appreciable adverse effect on competition. The Tribunal held that the Appellants failed to notify proposed combination to CCI as required under section 6(2), penalty under section 43A was to be imposed upon appellant even though combination was approved by CCI.
My article published in Competition Law Reports - July 2017.
WhatsApp is the most used consumer communication apps. In a case, presented by one of the user of the WhatsApp before the CCI, alleged that WhatsApp has infracted the provisions of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002 and is indulging in predatory pricing. Further the conduct of WhatsApp is in breach of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the right to privacy.
The CCI opined that although WhatsApp is in a dominant position in the relevant market, however, the allegations of predatory pricing, have no substance and the WhatsApp has not contravened any of the provisions of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002 hence no prima facie case of contravention of the provisions of Section 4 of the Act is made out against the WhatsApp. The CCI further opined that the allegations of breach of the Information Technology Act, 2000 do not fall within the purview of examination under the provisions of the Competition Act.2002.
My Article published in the Manupatra's Chartered Accountant's Practice Journal in July, 2017.
Composition scheme under the new GST regime, will be a growth driver for small taxpayers who are carrying out intrastate transaction and not doing import-export of goods. Under the normal scenario, a taxpayer under GST has to file minimum 3 returns monthly and one annual return, thus he is compelled to file 37 returns in a year or penalty will be levied for non-compliance. For small suppliers and manufacturers, it is quite difficult to maintain so detailed books of accounts on a daily basis and record every transaction with supporting documents. Whereas, in composition scheme, only a quarterly return will be uploaded under GSTR-4. The present article examines the pros and cost about the Composition Scheme.
Story of dubbing of tv serial mahabharat i bangla a cs ase on competition actCS (Dr)Rajeev Babel
My Article published in Competition Law Reports-April 2017 issue.
Highlights:
The purpose of defining the 'relevant market' is to assess with identifying in a systematic way the competitive constraints that undertakings face when operating in a market. This is the case in particular for determining if undertakings are competitors or potential competitors and when assessing the anti-competitive effects of conduct in a market. The concept of relevant market implies that there could be an effective competition between the products which form part of it and this presupposes that there is a sufficient degree of interchangeability between all the products forming part of the same market insofar as specific use of such product is concerned.
When trade union is of 'enterprises' and its action of boycott is reflecting the collective intent of its members, its action would violate Competition Act, 2002 even if the union itself is carrying on no economic activity by itself. When some of the members are found to be in the production, distribution or exhibition of films/serials line, the matter could not have been brushed aside by merely giving it a cloak of trade unionism.
My Article published in the Manupatra's Chartered Accountant's Practice Journal in July, 2017.
Composition scheme under the new GST regime, will be a growth driver for small taxpayers who are carrying out intrastate transaction and not doing import-export of goods. Under the normal scenario, a taxpayer under GST has to file minimum 3 returns monthly and one annual return, thus he is compelled to file 37 returns in a year or penalty will be levied for non-compliance. For small suppliers and manufacturers, it is quite difficult to maintain so detailed books of accounts on a daily basis and record every transaction with supporting documents. Whereas, in composition scheme, only a quarterly return will be uploaded under GSTR-4. The present article examines the pros and cost about the Composition Scheme.
Story of dubbing of tv serial mahabharat i bangla a cs ase on competition actCS (Dr)Rajeev Babel
My Article published in Competition Law Reports-April 2017 issue.
Highlights:
The purpose of defining the 'relevant market' is to assess with identifying in a systematic way the competitive constraints that undertakings face when operating in a market. This is the case in particular for determining if undertakings are competitors or potential competitors and when assessing the anti-competitive effects of conduct in a market. The concept of relevant market implies that there could be an effective competition between the products which form part of it and this presupposes that there is a sufficient degree of interchangeability between all the products forming part of the same market insofar as specific use of such product is concerned.
When trade union is of 'enterprises' and its action of boycott is reflecting the collective intent of its members, its action would violate Competition Act, 2002 even if the union itself is carrying on no economic activity by itself. When some of the members are found to be in the production, distribution or exhibition of films/serials line, the matter could not have been brushed aside by merely giving it a cloak of trade unionism.
The document describes a game called "Egogoogling" where you search for your own first name followed by the phrase "is" in Google to discover funny and interesting facts about yourself based on the search results. It provides examples of searching common male and female first names this way and listing some of the resulting snippets. The game can also be played by replacing the name with celebrities to learn various facts about them. It encourages readers to try searching other terms this way for entertainment.