Companies Bill misses deadline, will be tabled next session

The government today said that it would not be able to table the new Companies Bill that was expected to be enacted by the end of this year, in the Parliament's winter session.

Failing to meet the earlier deadline of tabling the Companies Bill 2009 in the winter session, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said the bill would now come in the budget session beginning February next year.

"Not this session. Companies bill will come next session," Khurshid said on the sidelines of a SKOCH event here.

Companies Bill 2009, which lapsed with the dissolution of the 14th Lok Sabha, was reintroduced in the Lok Sabha in August last year.

Subsequently, in August this year the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance gave its report after examining the provisions of the law.

"It's a huge report. We spent weeks reading it. We will have to see whatever standing committee has recommended, suggested finds its way in the bill. The draft will have to be looked at carefully not just by us but also the law ministry," Khurshid added.

The new Companies Bill which seeks to fix more responsibility on independent directors, comes in the backdrop of the multi-crore accounting fraud in Satyam Computer Services last year that exposed gaping holes in the existing corporate governance norms in the country and highlighted the need for stricter norms.

The Bill will also protect the rights of the minority shareholders, bring about responsible self-regulation with adequate disclosure and accountability, and lesser government control over internal corporate processes.