The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned the hearing on a PIL challenging the government’s decision on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. A bench of justices R M Lodha and A R Dave posted the petition filed by advocate M L Sharma for hearing for October 19 as Attorney General G E Vahanvati was not available.
The court on October 5 sought to know from Vahanvati whether the circular had any legal sanctity. In his plea, Sharma had submitted that FDI could be allowed only by the RBI, after having made changes in its regulations as mandated under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.
FDI is regulated by the Industrial Development (Regulation) Act, 1951. The FEMA Regulation, 2000, prohibited FDI in multi-brand retail, atomic energy, lottery business, gambling and betting and chit funds, he said.
Published 12 October 2012, 19:10 IST