Personal guarantors

The Supreme Court’s decision on more than over 200 petitions, to uphold the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) rule on the validity of proceedings against insolvency of personal guarantors of corporate debts, is a welcome relief to lenders in general and banks in particular.

While the promoters’ or directors’ liability is limited in the case of equity shareholders, the liability is not restricted in the case of borrowing by corporates which are secured by collateral or personal guarantees. Banks do rely on the net worth of the individuals providing personal guarantee, even if the properties or other assets of such individuals are not directly provided as security. This will place moral responsibility on such guarantors while applying for loan from banks on behalf of the corporate.

This decision may help resolve existing pending cases with the National Company Law Tribunal and recover whatever possible amounts.

Kasiraman R

Chennai

Long working hours

Apropos ‘Indians do work long hours’ (November 10), the debate emanating from Narayana Murthy’s call for a 70-hour work week continues. For most of us, work extends beyond the hours at the workplace. It extends seamlessly over rest time, commute time, leisure time, etc.

One often has to attend to a customer call while commuting or while at home with family. Similarly, one needs to be in touch with team mates, seniors, vendors and other partners outside office hours too.

Therefore, in a sense, one is at work all the time.

How do you measure this? It is up to the individual to balance this dynamic situation in an effective manner to achieve the clichéd ‘work-life balance’.

V Vijaykumar

Pune

Stubble burning

The rapid deterioration in air quality in the national capital is putting the lives of its residents at risk of severe health hazards ranging from the problem of breathlessness to chronic respiratory illnesses. While stubble burning by paddy farmers in neighbouring States has been identified as one of the major reasons for air quality degradation, no worthwhile measures have been initiated to wean farmers away from this environmentally destructive practice.

Given the alarming level of air pollution in the capital now, the apex court has directed the neighbouring States to immediately stop the stubble burning. However, the judicial fiats can have a salutary effect only if they are complemented by other pragmatic measures, such as encouraging paddy farmers to move to other crops. A policy thrust on crop diversification can go a long way in keeping stubble burning under check.

M Jeyaram

Sholavandan, TN

Act on climate change

This refers to ‘Central banks cannot remain silent spectators of climate change: RBI’s Patra’ (November 10). Human survival today is dependent on several intertwined global realities including food security, peace, climate and equitable economic development.

While top executives, the judiciary and corporate leaderships world over are speaking on the issue, one is not so sure about a consensus of views among the political leadership who holds the overall control over the world’s resources. It’s their views that matter on issues such as war and peace and climate change. Can they shift the focus from winning to survival of humanity?

MG Warrier

Mumbai

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