Coal India Ltd. shaken up but not stirred

The Children's Investment Fund, an international fund has sent a strong letter to the directors of Coal India Limited, a listed public sector company, which came out with a high profile public offering last year. The fund has alleged that the directors are in serious breach of their fiduciary duty to their company and their shareholders - by the act of complying with a government directive forcing the company (which is a monopoly in coal extraction in India) to reduce prices (which are already kept artificially low compared to International prices). It also quotes a Supreme Court ruling which holds that order by the government to control prices in coal are without authority. Here is the very interesting letter in its full glory.

See the FT piece on the story. (Subscription required)