Tribunal On Company Law By Next April

The company law tribunal (CLT) will be constituted by April 1, 1998, according to T S Krishnamurthy, secretary to the department of company affairs. The new Companies Act would provide for establishment of CLT, which would function as a quasi judicial authority. It would be mandatory for the tribunal to have a judicial member and a technical member on each bench, to be set up in five zones.

Krishnamurthy said the Company Law Board would function as CLT with the process of induction of judicial members to be completed by April next year.Some corporate heads expressed different views on the working draft of the new companies bill. Raymond vice-chairman Minoo Shroff said the provision in the working draft relating to retirement age of directors should be reconsidered. He said shareholders should be given the discretion to decide which director they wanted on board. Why should there be such restrictive provisions regarding the age of persons who run companies when there was no retirement age for people who run the country, he asked.

 

Bennett Coleman executive director P R Krishnamurthy advocated protection of the interests of shareholders.

He was of the view that regional committees should be formed to address investor grievances. Besides, share transfer deeds should be issued under lithographic system so that bad deliveries on account of signatures are minimised. Besides, companies should be bound to give reasons for refusing transfer of shares, he said.

Shardul S Shroff, a member of the working group on companies bill, invited corporates for debates on depreciation norms. He said points like tax neutrality of de-mergers needed to be discussed so that a more meaningful bill could be evolved.

CLB to become tribunal by April 98

Our Banking Bureau MUMBAI

The company law tribunal (CLT) will be constituted by April 1, 1998, according to T S Krishnamurthy, secretary to the department of company affairs. The new Companies Act would provide for establishment of CLT, which would function as a quasi judicial authority. It would be mandatory for the tribunal to have a judicial member and a technical member on each bench, to be set up in five zones.

Krishnamurthy said the Company Law Board would function as CLT with the process of induction of judicial members to be completed by April next year.

Some corporate heads expressed different views on the working draft of the new companies bill.

Raymond vice-chairman Minoo Shroff said the provision in the working draft relating to retirement age of directors should be reconsidered. He said shareholders should be given the discretion to decide which director they wanted on board. Why should there be such restrictive provisions regarding the age of persons who run companies when there was no retirement age for people who run the country, he asked.

Bennett Coleman executive director P R Krishnamurthy advocated protection of the interests of shareholders. He was of the view that regional committees should be formed to address investor grievances. Besides, share transfer deeds should be issued under lithographic system so that bad deliveries on account of signatures are minimised. Besides, companies should be bound to give reasons for refusing transfer of shares, he said.

Shardul S Shroff, a member of the working group on companies bill, invited corporates for debates on depreciation norms. He said points like tax neutrality of de-mergers needed to be discussed so that a more meaningful bill could be evolved.