SC seeks solution to redress complaints of law course aspirants
New Delhi, May 24: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) to come up with a solution to redress the complaints of candidates who appeared in the Common Law Admission Test 2018 (CLAT) and directed High Courts not to proceed with similar cases pending before them.
A bench of Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice Navin Sinha said there has to be a mechanism or redressal forum to look into the 251 complaints filed by the candidates.
"If such a dispute arises, is there a mechanism wherein these cases can be looked into and addressed so that candidates can be satisfied?" the court asked Kochi-based NUALS and directed it to come up with a wholesome solution by Friday.
"There should be some forum where the factual aspects can be looked into. Case-to-case questions will have to be looked into. They (NUALS) can appoint some authority to look into the case-to-case aspects and that will ease a lot of problems," the court added.
The court was hearing pleas filed by six CLAT candidates who sought direction to quash the CLAT 2018 conducted by NUALS on May 13 with the assistance of private firm Sify Technologies Ltd and to hold it afresh.
The petitioners had prayed for a stay on the publication of final result-cum-merit list till the disposal of their petitions.
They had moved the apex court on Wednesday and pleaded that examinees faced many technical problems during the online test, besides poor infrastructure at examination centres and lack of proper guidance from the staff.
The petitioners submitted that candidates across states faced serious problems at almost 200 online examination centres and said that the prerequisites of proper electronic and online infrastructure were not made available in the conduct of the exam.
The manner in which the examination was held had jeopardised the future of thousands of students who took the examination, they pleaded.
"For instance, at an examination centre at Hisar in Haryana, some students were seen attempting the examination till 7 p.m. whereas the exam was expected to conclude by 5 p.m. In essence, it is submitted that the petitioners and thousands of other similarly placed students were compelled to take the examination under grossly unfair conditions, seriously jeopardizing their result," the petitioner submitted.
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Adani touts financial strength, shows can grow without external debt
New Delhi (PTI): Billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate on Monday touted its financial and credit details of its portfolio companies to investors, showcasing its robust profits and cash flows that can sustain growth without reliance on external debt.
The ports-to-energy conglomerate, which has been hit by an indictment in a US court against its founder chairman Gautam Adani and two other executives for allegedly bribing Indian official to secure solar power contracts, in a presentation to the investors highlighted its consistently expanding profits and cash flows, which over a period have led to lowering dependence on debt for its growth ambitions.
Equity now accounts for almost two third of its total asset creation, a stark contrast to five years ago. In the last six months, the group has invested close to Rs 75,227 crore, against a total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore.
A note was also shared with the investors, along with presentations.
Outlining the group's liquidity position, the note said, "Adani Portfolio companies have sufficient liquidity to cover all debt servicing requirements for at least 12 months. As of September 30, 2024, Adani Portfolio companies had a cash of Rs 53,024 crore, which was close to 21 per cent of its total gross debt outstanding".
This amount, it said, was sufficient to cover the next 28 months of debt servicing requirement.
GROWTH WITHOUT DEBT
In the past, the group has announced plans to invest over Rs 8 lakh crore (USD 100 billion) across portfolio companies in the next ten years.
The Fund Flows from Operations (FFO) or cash profits stood at Rs 58,908 crore for the last twelve months and is growing over 30 per cent for the past five years. On the basis of this, even after assuming no growth, the group will be able to invest Rs 5.9 lakh crore only from its internal cash accruals over the next ten years, leaving very little dependency on external debt.
Further, at the portfolio level, there is very low debt gearing of 2.46x -- which means it has massive headroom for debt, according to the presentation.
Other highlights from the presentation included EBITDA (earnings before interest tax and depreciation) for the last twelve months, which it said is highly stable and hence predictable due to its infrastructure projects, which grew by 17 per cent to Rs 83,440 crore.
Also, existing annual cash flows alone can pay the entire debt in 3 years.
Gross assets/investments increased by Rs 75,227 crore, against total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore. Asset base has now increased to Rs 5.5 lakh crore.
Average cost of borrowing at 8.2 per cent, lowest in the last 5 years, due to upgrade in ratings across group companies, it said.
Adani Group's long-term debt from domestic banks was Rs 94,400 crore. This stood against a cash balance of Rs 53,024 crore, most of which was parked with Indian banks.
Borrowings from global banks were 27 per cent of total debt.
