Concentrated ownership, role played by promoters in companies and their cross shareholdings in group companies raise concerns about shareholder engagement and voting in Indian companies. The Companies Act, 2013 along with regulations of the Securities and Exchange Board of India is believed to have expanded the rights of shareholders. A pilot study for writing this chapter has been conducted to assess the shareholders engagement and voting pattern in Nifty 50 companies listed on National Stock Exchange, India. The Companies Act allocates powers to shareholders and company boards, but shareholders’ supremacy is reflected in general meetings of the company. The chapter has covered different types of shares ranging from simplest one share one vote to shares with differential voting rights and superior voting rights along with other rights of shareholders in general meetings. Impact on voting pattern during virtual meetings allowed during pandemic have also been observed in the chapter.

The chapter explores marriage litigation in Northern France and the German-speaking regions. It utilizes a distinction from late medieval Xanten between “simple” and “double” suits. The former pitted claimant against defendant, the latter showed several parties competing for the same partner. The preponderance of simple petitions especially in Germany is indicative of judges passively waiting for litigants to approach them. In fifteenth-century Cambrai and Brussels, the bishop installed a promoter for expert management of the accusations. He served to support persons whose case he found worthwhile or acted as instigator like a modern state attorney. Double proceedings at Cambrai nearly matched the simple ones and considerably outnumbered them at Brussels. Most of the multiparty suits arose when couples had their wedding banns announced in the parish church. At that moment, a person identified as the “opponent” in the sources came forward and objected to the validity of the proposed union. Regardless of the promoter, the courts of the North adjudicated in uniform fashion. They confronted many dozens if not hundreds of marriage cases. A mere handful of them met juristic criteria. The rest would stay within the limits of pastoral concern and lead to certain defeat.