The Tata-Docomo lesson

Rules cannot be applied retrospectively

The Delhi High Court’s decision on Friday to approve a settlement between Tata Sons and NTT Docomo, allowing the former to buy out the Japanese firm’s stake in Tata Teleservices will, hopefully, end one of the long-pending corporate cross-border disputes in India. Hopefully, because the Reserve Bank of India, which had opposed the settlement citing violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and other rules, has the option of appealing before a bigger bench or the Supreme Court. But such a move will not be worth its while if the RBI is serious about allaying foreign investor concerns over