Beyond the Curtain: Trailing the Judicial Approach on the Lifting of Corporate Veil in India

After the much famous Solomon’s case, the concept of corporate veil expanded throughout the length and breadth of different legal systems of the world. The Indian legal system, which has adapted much from the colonial masters and their laws, has significantly incorporated this concept and given way to further elucidation of this concept in the courts. The doctrine of corporate veil is inherently a mystical concept, whose application cannot be successfully contained within statutory boundaries. This has resulted in judicially established factors, where the corporate veil is applicable. The judicially established factors are an inclusive list of some of the fundamental factors, which, according to the courts, mandate piercing through the famed, impenetrable shell of a company and bringing to book those human beneficiaries, who abuse this protection to accrue shady benefits without much accountability. There is a caveat that much of these factors are the results of courts’ discretion, which, if not sufficiently guided, may cause unnecessary application of this concept.