Abraham C Mathews

The author is an Advocate, practicing in Delhi, and a Chartered Accountant

Latest Articles By Abraham C Mathews

Closing The Tap On Dissent

Abraham C Mathews

On 20 january, the Delhi High Court handed a decisive victory to Greenpeace — enfant terrible in a world that swears by development and growth — and, perhaps, to the very freedom of speech and expression in India. The international non-governmental organisation (NGO) had been fighting the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on multiple fronts. In June 2014, the MHA froze the bank account of Greenpeace India for receipts of foreign funds. More recently, on 12 January this year, one of its activists, Priya Pillai, was offloaded from a London-bound flight, where she was scheduled to speak with British parliamentarians on environmental violations by London-listed Essar Energy, under provisions that are usually applied to suspected terrorists.

Democracy’s Descendants

Abraham C Mathews

When the annals of the 21st century are written, how will it’s greatest flag-bearer, the Internet be remembered the best? Will it be as the bridge that brought people closer, irrespective of distance? Or will it be the service that saved countless man-hours, by bringing everything from shopping to banking home (and then wasted all of it by inventing social media and Angry Birds)? Will its legacy be remembered as the repository of information that anybody could tap into, any time? All of these, without a doubt. But more importantly, the Internet will, and should be remembered as the great leveller; everybody — rich, poor, employed, student — whoever you are, you have a voice, and the power to start a revolution.

Leave The Net Alone

Abraham C Mathews

“The Internet is currently not broke, and the FCC is out to fix it,” began John Oliver, American talk-show host and comedian, introducing his show’s discussion on Net neutrality. America’s telecom regulator Federal Communications Council (FCC) had just proposed allowing Internet carriers to give preference on their network to websites in exchange for a fee.

Between The Lines

Abraham C Mathews

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has been on an overdrive. Till June-end, it had already made four modifications and issued 18 clarifications to the Companies Act 2013 — a legacy of the UPA government. The changes, some yet to be approved, have been lapped up by industry.

The Indian Cash Cow

Abraham C Mathews

If it were a murder, it would have been the perfect murder. It was quick and quiet. In February, while India’s corporate governance vigilantes obsessed over Maruti and its deal with Japanese parent Suzuki, Alstom Transport India, a wholly owned subsidiary of French engineering major Alstom, bought out the transportation division of Alstom India, another arm of Alstom. The division was sold for Rs 176.9 crore, a figure far lower than the division’s sales for the previous 12 months, leaving minority shareholders of the Indian arm high and dry.

Judicial Reform A Must

Abraham C Mathews

Economy Editorial

Of all the UPA’s perceived sins, its shunning of investment was probably the unkindest cut of all. Take, for example, the Vodafone tax case. Did it achieve anything? Investors still protest the unfairness of using a retrospective amendment to over-rule a Supreme Court verdict that went against the government. Abraham C. Mathews speaks to Cyril S. Shroff, managing partner, Amarchand Mangaldas, to get an idea of what the government should do on priority in terms of sending the right signals.

The Moolah Trick

Abraham C Mathews

Deep in the recess of the World Wide Web resides a proud community of money dealers which calls itself the Mavrodians. Its lineage is not particularly kosher, but it makes no bones about that either. Its website warns you in no uncertain terms that it is a financial pyramid. In red, bold letters. Thrice.

Hide And Seek?

Abraham C Mathews

Scindia House in the South Mumbai area of Ballard Pier is a far cry from the typical government office. For one, it is spacious and well maintained. The few visitors are usually in suits. And, you will be hard-pressed to find paan stains. Most importantly, for the better part of the day, the officers seem to be at work. The offices in the building are roomy, some even bigger than in private sector tax firms. Scindia House is home to the international tax division of the income tax department in Mumbai. By some estimates, its FY13 tax mop-up will bring in Rs 25,000 crore.

Accounting Jugglery

Abraham C Mathews

There is an old joke about a businessman interviewing people for a manager’s job. The last candidate was an accountant who, when asked how much two plus two was, responded with “How much do you want it to be?” Apply that to corporate balance sheets and you will find a number of ways in which numbers ‘add’ up.

The Case Of Mixed Signals

Abraham C Mathews

Alawyer’s nightmare is not being able to give a clear answer when a client comes calling with a query. Answers like those of Harry Truman’s economists (“All my economists say, ‘on the one hand... and on the other hand…’”) won’t do. After all, if a lawyer cannot interpret the law, who can? But lawyers can and do face such a situation; nowadays, to queries from firms on how they should go about complying with competition laws, they have no answer.