Balancing power and accountability at SEBI, Bypassing expert tribunals in Telangana, SEBI on finfluencers, Public procurement disputes, and FDI truths | The TrustBridge Newsletter | Issue 16
SEBI’s Adjudication of Insider Trading | Rethinking the administrative state | Writs from ERC orders in Telangana | Public procurement disputes | Hidden truths in big FDI statements
This is TrustBridge’s monthly newsletter. TrustBridge seeks to improve India’s business environment by improving the rule of law. In this monthly newsletter, we bring you the work done by the TrustBridge Team in the public space and offer insights into future work.
Events
Renuka Sane presented the paper ‘Balancing Power and Accountability: An evaluation of SEBIs Adjudication of Insider Trading’, by Natasha Aggarwal, Amol Kulkarni, Bhavin Patel, Sonam Patel, and Renuka Sane at the Emerging Markets Conference 2024 organised by XKDR, Mumbai on December 12, 2024.
Renuka was the Chairperson for the Panel Discussion on `Rethinking the administrative state’ at the Emerging Markets Conference 2024.
Working Papers
Natasha Aggarwal and Bhavin Patel published a new Working Paper, ‘Bypassing expert tribunals through writs: Judicial overreach in review of the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission’s orders’ on December 4, 2024. The paper examines the extraordinarily large number of writ challenges to orders of the Telangana electricity regulator. The authors study 179 writ petitions and 181 writ appeals involving the TSERC before the Telangana High Court between 2014-2022 and examine whether judicial review of the TSERC's orders by the High Court is within the permitted limits in administrative law.
Op-eds
Natasha Aggarwal wrote an article for Money Control: ‘SEBI's dubious crackdown on finfluencers and digital platform regulations’, on November 20, 2024.
Evidently, SEBI has attempted to create an entirely new legal framework through disguised legislation. Regulatory authorities, like SEBI, occupy a unique position in the context of the separation of powers - SEBI has quasi-legislative powers, executive powers, and quasi-judicial powers. This means that SEBI can issue regulations, conduct investigations, and adjudicate on allegations made in its own enforcement actions. Such wide powers also mean that regulatory authorities must be transparent and accountable, and follow the rule of law.
Prashant Narang wrote an article for The Mint: ‘The resolution of disputes over public procurement: Let’s strengthen reforms’, on November 27, 2024.
The stakes are high. Public procurement disputes involve billions of rupees in stalled projects, with cascading effects on infrastructure development and economic growth. Inefficiencies in dispute resolution also affect India’s global competitiveness, particularly its ability to attract foreign investment and improve its ease of doing business ranking. As a country aspiring to developed country status, India must ensure the success of these reforms. For this, India must address gaps in its institutional arbitration framework and invest in the capacity-building needed to make mediation a reliable option.
Renuka Sane wrote an article for The Print: ‘Big FDI statements hide the truth. Be careful about which metric to use’, on December 4, 2024.
India has historically underperformed on FDI relative to other countries—we have never been able to exceed 4 per cent of GDP, so this is not a recent phenomenon. However, to understand and diagnose the current dynamics, we have to first agree on which metric of FDI is the relevant one for a purpose.
A careful and candid assessment of the data will offer insights into not just the FDI but also the broader health of the Indian economy.