"In our country we are long on laws, but short on implementation"
Justice (retd.) B. N. Srikrishna is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court and Judge of the Bombay High Court. Previously, in the aftermath of the Mumbai riots, he had assumed charge of the one-man Commission of Inquiry set up in January 1993; later he became the Chairman of the Sixth Pay Commission of the Government of India and then the Chairman of the Committee for Separate Telangana before taking over as the Chairman of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission...
His interests surpass the confines of law – apart from an LL.B. and LL.M., he also holds a masters degree in Sanskrit, a diploma in Urdu and a post-graduate degree in Indian aesthetics. He is also well versed in numerous other languages and subjects. Above all he is immensely grounded and modest. He describes himself as, “A simple, but conscientious lawyer and a judge, who got pitched into the limelight because of the Bombay Riots Commission for no fault of his.” Read on for Justice Srikrishna’s opinions on Unified Financial Agency (UFA), Telangana, commission culture, Srikrishna report, communal violence and politics in the country, refugee laws, initial years of his career, advice for young lawyers and much more.
Legal Era (LE): Sir, Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) has proposed that SEBI, Forward Markets Commission, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) should be merged into a Unified Financial Agency (UFA). How would this move positively impact the financial sector in the country?
Justice (retd.) B. N. Srikrishna (JS): It would avoid regulatory arbitrage, regulatory jurisdictional disputes and ensure that no diddler in the financial sector can escape regulatory supervision and policing by designing his product in some hybrid fashion to claim immunity from each regulator.
Do you think these recommendations shall be carried out to their logical conclusion?
JS: They should in all expectation be, if the political will is summoned to achieve the goal of making our country a leading player in the world financial arena.
