Injeti Srinivas Committee to look into offences under the Companies Act

The government has constituted a committee under Injeti Srinivas, secretary of the Corporate Affairs Ministry to look at recategorization of certain offences under the Companies Act as civil offences as well as review other provisions of the Companies Act and the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2008.

Mandate of the Committee

The committee will look into key issues including:

• The introduction of a settlement mechanism for offences under the companies act as well as de-clogging the National Company Law Tribunals.
• Measure to improve the functioning of statutory bodies under the Companies Act including the Serious Frauds Investigations Office (SFIO), The Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) and the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA).
• Examine the feasibility of a mechanism through which the government could settle cases involving violations under the Companies Act.
• Identify specific provisions under the Companies Act and the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act that could be amended to improve ease of doing business and that the committee would not be restricted to only reviewing the forms that companies and LLPs are required to file under the acts.
• Measures to further de-clog the National Company Law Tribunals which deals with offences under the Companies Act, the Competition Act and insolvency cases under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

The constitution of the committee was in line with the government’s vision of providing “ease of doing business to law-abiding corporates, fostering improved corporate compliance for stakeholders at large and also to address emerging issues having an impact on the working of corporates in the country.