Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid today exuded confidence that the revised Companies Bill will be tabled in Parliament by the Budget session at the latest.
“We are trying to bring it (Companies Bill) in the Winter session, if not then, definitely by the Budget session,” Khurshid told reporters on the sidelines of the Hospitality India and Explore the World sixth annual international awards.
The new Companies Law will have some provisions to plug in the loopholes brought to the fore by the Bhopal gas tragedy, he said.
He said the line between civil and criminal law has diminished with the Bhopal gas tragedy.
“We are trying to ensure to bridge this gap,” he added.
Earlier, in Kolkata, Khurshid had said the government would incorporate the Supreme Court’s views on the liability of company directors for criminal acts in the Bill.
The Companies Bill was tabled in Parliament earlier, following which a Standing Committee on Finance had given its suggestions.
The new Bill to be tabled in Parliament will incorporate some of these recommendations, he said.
“We are still working on it. Draft is yet to be made,” Khurshid said.
On the provisions relating to independent directors on a company’s board, he said, “We are working on rotating independent directors. We are trying to ensure the right mix of people are on the board. We are also working on restricting the number of boards people can be on,” Khurshid said.
The Standing Committee had recommended that a provision should be made in the Bill for rotation of independent directors by restricting their tenure in a company to, say, five years.
The Bill may have provisions relating to corporate social responsibility (CSR).
“Possibly, we will ask them (companies) to earmark a portion of their profits from a project for CSR activities. By and large, CSR should be left in the hands of companies and they can do it in a way they believe in,” Khurshid said.
