๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ก๐ข ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ’๐ฌ ๐๐๐ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐
Our Founder & Managing Partner, Mr. Sumit Agrawal, recently shared his views with VCCircle on the Hon’ble Delhi High Courtโs ruling in the case of NSE India v. Central Information Commission & Ors. (๐๐๐ 315/2010) holding the National Stock Exchange to be a โpublic authorityโ under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
In the article, โ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฉ๐ช ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ตโ๐ด ๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ดโ, he addressed three questions arising from the judgment:
1. ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐: The ruling is not a fresh hurdle to the listing. The matter stands disclosed in the draft red herring prospectus, which Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has reviewed, and the development can be addressed through an update in the red herring prospectus.
2. ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ: โThe public authority status isnโt an open house.โ Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act permits the exchange to withhold trade secrets and competitively sensitive information such as matching-engine architecture, cybersecurity design, unreleased products and vendor contracts. Further, Section 8(1)(j) protects employee data and Section 8(1)(h) protects details of live investigations. None of these exemptions is absolute, the NSE would need to show actual harm, not mere inconvenience.
3. ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐-๐ซ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ: The ruling turns on Section 4(3) of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956. The NSE cannot exist as a recognised exchange without government recognition, which the Bench treated as constituting it. This logic may extend to SEBI regulated market infrastructure institutions such as stock exchanges, depositories and clearing corporations but not to banks, asset management companies, alternative investment funds or insurers, which operate under licensing rather than recognition-as-existence.
Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/d2uHbjiX
