Jindal Poly Films dispute, India's first class action suit, sent by Supreme Court to arbitration
The Supreme Court referred India's first class action suit against Jindal Poly Films to arbitration, appointing a retired judge as the sole arbitrator.Summary
The Supreme Court has set aside India's first class action suit filed by minority shareholders against Jindal Poly Films and referred the dispute to arbitration. The apex court appointed retired Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, as the sole arbitrator to resolve the matter expeditiously. The bench of justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Atul S. Chandurkar set aside the orders of the National Company Law Tribunal and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, which had admitted and upheld the class action petition. The shareholders, holding 4.99% of the share capital, alleged that a series of transactions, including the sale of financial instruments at undervaluation and write-offs of loans, caused wrongful loss to the company and minority shareholders. Jindal Poly Films opposed the suit, arguing that 5% shareholders could not run the company and that the allegations pertained to concluded transactions.
(Source：The Economic Times)