An Analysis of Shareholder Activism and its Role in Securing the Rights of the Minority Shareholders in India

Shareholder activism in the contemporary corporate scenario has become more of an accepted rule of corporate strategy that facilitates decision making within the governance framework of a company. The most important point to be noted in this respect is the fact that the regulatory mechanism of shareholder rights in a corporate entity is an important factor for determining shareholder activism trends in a particular organization. This research endeavour primarily focuses on explaining the concept of shareholder activism in India and the reason behind its gaining importance in the recent times. It also discusses the evolution and the forms of shareholder activism along with the legislations that form the regulatory framework for governing shareholder activism in India. A major portion of this paper deals with analysing the impact of shareholder activism on securing the rights of minority group of shareholders and also extends to explaining the relation between shareholder activism and its impact on corporate decisions, governance framework and minority shareholder rights. Therefore, this research work has focused on analysing the importance of shareholder activism in enhancing transparency and accountability by way of improved corporate governance practices in order to secure the rights and interests of the minority class of shareholders of the company.