Now, 8 special courts for speedy trials under companies law

The government has designated eight special courts in different parts of the country to ensure speedy trial of offences violating companies law provisions.
Envisaged under the Companies Act, 2013, the courts have been designated after more than two years since provisions of this began to take effect.
It also comes at a time when the government is working on ways to further improve the ease of doing business and reduce the number of litigations pending at various courts.
Eight courts have been designated as special courts by the Ministry after receiving the concurrence of the respective High Court Chief Justices, according to the Corporate Affairs Ministry.

These would be in J&K, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal as well as the union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
In a notification, the Ministry said the special courts would deal with trial of offences under the Companies Act, 2013 that are punishable with imprisonment of two years or more as per provisions of the companies law.

The special courts were to be set up under the Act and now they have been notified. It would help in speedy trials, a senior official said.
As per estimates, thousands of cases pertaining to companies law are pending.

"... The central government appoints May 18, 2016 as the date on which provisions of clause (iv) of sub-section (29) of section 2, section 435 to 438 (both sections inclusive) and section 440 of the said Act shall come into force," the Ministry said in another notification.
These provisions pertain to matters related to the special courts.
"The central government may, for the purpose of providing speedy trial of offences under this Act, by notification, establish or designate as many special courts as may be necessary," according to Section 435 of the Companies Act, 2013.
Among others, the special court shall be deemed to be a court of session and the person conducting a prosecution before a special court shall be deemed to be a public prosecutor.

Most provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 -- that seeks to put in place stringent norms to ensure good corporate governance practices and protect shareholder interests -- came into force from April 1, 2014.
Out of the total 470 sections in the law, more than 280 have come into effect so far. Among others, the process for establishment of the National Company Law Tribunal and its appellate tribunal are in the final stages.