Report of the Committee to Review Offences under the Companies Act, 2013
Decriminalizing technical non-compliances under company law
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs constituted a Committee in July 2018 to consider decimalization of certain offences under the Companies Act, 2013.
The Committee analysed the provisions relating to offences under the Act and categorized them into different heads. Based on this categorization, it recommended that the existing rigor of the law should continue for serious offences, whereas lapses that are technical or procedural in nature may be brought within the ambit of a simple adjudication process. The Committee’s recommendations were targeted at improving compliance standards and reducing the case burden of the adjudicating forums for facilitating speedy disposal of cases involving serious offences.
The Committee also made various other suggestions to de-clog the National Company Law Tribunals and improve corporate governance.
The Committee’s report was released in August 2018. Many of its recommendations were included in the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019, which was passed by the Parliament in July 2019.
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About the Contributors
Shreya is a Senior Resident Fellow, and leads the work at the intersection of law, finance and development at Vidhi. She is currently focusing on independent research work relating to financial inclusion, tech and corporate governance. She has worked on several engaged projects with the International Financial Services Centres Authority, Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India. Shreya completed her LLB from National Law University, Jodhpur in 2012 and LLM from Queen Mary, London on a Chevening scholarship in 2019. She also worked with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, London in 2019. Prior to joining Vidhi in 2014, she worked as an Associate at Luthra & Luthra Law Offices, New Delhi.
Vedika was a Senior Resident Fellow and led Vidhi’s work in the field of Competition Law. She also led projects commissioned by various ministries in diverse areas including domestic and cross-border insolvency and company law for the Corporate Law and Financial Regulation team at Vidhi. Vedika completed her B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) from Gujarat National Law University in 2011 and an MCL from University of Cambridge in 2014.
Aishwarya was a Senior Resident Fellow working in the area of Corporate Law and Financial Regulation. At Vidhi, she has primarily worked on engaged/commissioned projects from various ministries, statutory authorities and regulators, where she provides legal research and drafting support at various stages of law-making. Aishwarya works on a variety of legal and regulatory matters and allied issues in public policy, chiefly related to insolvency laws, competition laws and corporate governance laws. Aishwarya graduated with a B.A. LL.B (Hons.) from Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) in 2017. During her time there she worked on two human rights reports and attended specialised courses in Advanced Corporate Law and Competition Law. She has also interned under Senior Advocate Ramji Srinivasan, in Avantha Holdings Ltd. and in leading law firms.
Param was a Research Fellow at Vidhi.
