Modi dispute

LEGAL DIGEST

With the Delhi High Court refusing to pass an injunction order sought by B K Modi's application, the board meeting of Modipon, scheduled for December 23, is likely to pass a resolution for the restructuring of the company and its division between two brothers, K K Modi and M K Modi.

Voting for the decision which has to be taken at the meeting has already taken place through postal ballot.

Objecting to B K Modi's application for an injunction against the AGM taking any decision contrary to the first memorandum of understanding (MoU), according to which two divisions of Modipon had to be distributed amongst all the brothers,K K Modi's counsel submitted before Justice Reva Khetrapal that the shareholding of each brother in the new company would remain the same as in Modipon.

With regard to B K Modi, the advocate said that since he was 0.06 per cent shareholder in the present company, his stake shall remain the same in the new one.

Airline revival

The Delhi High Court has allowed M/s Ascent Exim Pvt Ltd to initiate steps for the revival of Archana Airways Ltd, at present under liquidation.

While partly allowing its application under Section 391 of the Company Act, Justice Sanjiv Khanna said the propounders would function under the court's supervision and control. Hence, the company has to file bi-monthly reports with regard to the agreements entered and investments made for the renewal of licence.

Archana Airways Ltd was wound up in 2002 following a petition filed by its ex-employees, whose dues had not been settled by the company.

Since the liquidation proceedings are pending before the high court, M/s Ascent Exim Pvt Ltd filed an application informing the court of the proposal to invest Rs 100 crore from its personal resources as working capital to ensure the revival of Archana Airways.

Ascent claimed to have paid more than Rs 94.65 lac to the unpaid creditors of Archana Airways. While enclosing consent letters of the creditors for the revival of the company, it also claimed to have acquired 80 per cent of the shares of the airline.

HLL plea rejected

The Delhi High Court has ordered Hindustan Lever Limted to pay 15 per cent of the penalty of Rs 2 crore which the Special Director of Enforcement Directorate imposed on the company in 2000.

A division bench comprising Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice J P Singh refused to entertain HLL's plea against the order of ED's appellate tribunal, which, in September this year, while hearing the company's appeal against the fine, ordered it to deposit 15 per cent of the fine as an ad-interim measure.

HLL, in its appeal before the high court, had argued that the tribunal's order was based on prima facie balance of convenience without addressing the merits of the case.

HLL, as per the special director of ED, has been fined for the non-recovery of export proceeds of about Rs 2.95 crore within the stipulated time, against exports made in 1982-1991.

The high court held: "The financial hardship and the other balance of convenience clearly indicated that when only 15 per cent of the penalty of Rs 2 crore was required to be deposited, and after taking into account the financial health of the company, there was no financial hardship warranting interference."

CAS implementation

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to extend the deadline for the implementation of the conditional access system (CAS).

As per a government notification, CAS shall be available to consumers from January 1, 2007. However, a multi-system operator (MSO) from South-West Delhi had sought stay of the notification and extension of the deadline.

The petitioner had claimed that he wanted to implement digital CAS in Delhi. He said the present technology of analogue CAS was outdated.

Mentioning various countries which had phased out analogue transmission, Star Broadband had also cited the new draft of the broadcast Bill, prepared by the central government, which too had envisaged the mandating of a digital addressable system.

Judges Bill

A bill seeking to go into allegations of misbehaviour by Supreme Court and high court judges through a proposed National Judicial Council was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The Judges (Inquiry) Bill, introduced by Law and Justice Minister H R Bhardwaj, aims at bringing about greater transparency in the judiciary and making judges more accountable.

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee allowed its introduction, overruling certain objections raised by CPI-M member V Radhakrishnan. The long-delayed measure provides for procedures under which any person can lodge complaints with the NJC against all judges except the chief justice of India (CJI).

The NJC will include the CJI, the two senior-most judges of the apex court, and two seniormost chief justices of high courts nominated by CJI. However, in case of a complaint against a judge of the Supreme Court, the council shall consist of the CJI and four seniormost judges of the apex court to be nominated by the CJI.