Key Supreme Court Verdicts; Biggest Indian Quarterly Loss; Marginal Gains For Indian Markets

From the Supreme Court pronouncing its verdict on eight cases, a telecom operator clocking biggest ever quarterly loss in Indian history to President’s rule imposed in Maharashtra, India witnessed an eventful week between Nov. 11 and Nov. 15.

The week started after Supreme Court, on Nov. 9, ruled in favour of the Hindu parties in the centuries-old Ayodhya land dispute. The apex court, this week, pronounced its verdict on series of cases ahead of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi’s retirement on Nov. 17.

Here are the top verdicts pronounced by Supreme Court this week:

• Striking down the restructuring of various tribunals in the country done through the Finance Act, 2017.
• Holding the office of the Chief Justice of India a public authority under the Right to Information Act.
• Upholding the disqualification of 17 members of Karnataka Legislative Assembly, but allowing them to contest the upcoming by-elections.
• Dismissing the review petitions challenging its judgment declining a probe in the Rafale fighter jet deal, saying they were “without any merit”.
• Closing the contempt plea against Rahul Gandhi for his “Chowkidar chor hai” remarks.
• Announcing that a seven-judge bench will re-examine petitions seeking a review of the apex court’s Sabarimala verdict delivered in September 2018.
• Ruling in favour of the committee of creditors in the Essar Steel case.
• Finding Singh Brothers and Fortis Healthcare guilty of contempt of court and asking them to deposit Rs 1,175 crore to purge the contempt of court. The apex court also refused to lift the status quo that it had imposed on Fortis Healthcare-IHH deal.

Telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd. posted India’s largest-ever quarterly loss in the quarter ended September as it provided for Rs 25,678 crore as dues pending to the government related to the 14-year-old adjusted gross revenue court dispute.

Also, the week witnessed President’s rule being imposed in Maharashtra, only for the third time in the state’s history, after President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent.

How Markets Fared

Indian equity indices remained little unchanged as the second-quarter earnings season came to an end.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.08 percent this week to end at 40,356.69 while the NSE Nifty 50 ended down 0.11 percent to 11,895.45.

The market remained rangebound with lots of intraday volatility for the last few days even as there were a lot of events and as the results season ended, TradingBells’ Senior Analyst Santosh Meena said.

“Global cues, especially development on the U.S.-China trade war front will have a major impact on the global as well as Indian market,” he said in a mailed statement.

Meena said the Nifty has a good chance of scaling an all-time high in the coming week.

Seven out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE ended lower this week, led by the Nifty Metal Index’s 4.37 percent fall. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty Financial Services Index was the top sectoral performer, rising 1.1 percent.

How The Broader Markets Performed

The broader markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index ended 0.17 percent lower, led by declines in Reliance Capital Ltd., Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. and Suzlon Energy Ltd.

Big Talking Points This Week

• CPI: Retail inflation rises to 16-month high.
• IIP: Industrial production contracts the most in nearly eight years.
• China’s investment growth slows to a record low.
• Government to consider shifting dividend tax to investors from firms.
• Jack Ma says U.S.-China trade tension could last 20 years.
• Venezuela is secretly exporting millions of barrels of oil.
• How top IPL franchises performed financially.
• Motorola brings back the Razr as $1,500 foldable smartphone.