Single Economic Entity And Corporate Separatedness Doctrine: A Juxtaposition

Under company laws, a company is considered to be a separate legal entity distinct from its holding / parent company. However, the doctrine of 'piercing the corporate veil' is an exception to the rule and the courts use this exception to 'penalise' companies.

Competition laws, on the other hand, validate the 'single economic entity' doctrine where entities within the same 'group' may be considered as one for the purposes of claiming advantage from scrutiny of competition regulators.

This paper aims to provide a brief overview as to the interplay between the applicability of the SEE Doctrine vis-à-vis the corporate separatedness doctrine (piercing the corporate veil), which has not been discussed by any regulator / authority / court in India.