A Case Study of Legal Governance in Eastern Coalfields Limited under the Sick Industrial Companies Act

Abstract

Under Indian business law, the recovery of state-owned businesses by legal and regulatory means opens a lot of interesting questions about how insolvency procedures, public sector governance, and corporate legal restructuring all work together. This study critically analyses the legal trajectory and corporate metamorphosis of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL), within the context of Indian company law, specifically under the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 (SICA). The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) declared ECL a sick industrial company in 1999. It got out of its legal and financial problems in 2014–15 by using a multi-pronged turnaround strategy that included restructuring its capital, following the law, rationalising its labour force, and aligning its market. The study looks at how ECL dealt with the difficult legal issues of public sector responsibility, industrial health, corporate governance, and fiduciary duties. The analysis shows how legal institutions and compliance frameworks can help make a turnaround that is both economically viable and legally sound by using laws, court decisions, published reports, and business accounts. The research contextualises the evolution of ECL within the broader framework of administrative law, corporate restructuring standards, and public business governance in India.