Constitution of Committee to review the offences under the Companies Act, 2013 - F. No. 2/1/2018-CL.V - Companies Law

F. No. 2/1/2018-CL.V Government of India Ministry of Corporate Affairs A Wing, 5 th Floor, Shastri Bhawan New Delhi: 110001 Dated: 13 July, 2018 ORDER Subject:- Constitution of Committee to review the offences under the Companies Act, 2013. The Government hereby constitutes a Committee to review the offences under the Companies Act, 2013 , consisting of the following:- Sr. No. Name of Person/Institution Position 1 Secretary, MCA Chairperson 2 Shri T.K. Vishwanathan, Ex-Secretary General, Lok Sabha Member 3 Shri Shardul S Shroff, Executive Chairman Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas Co. Member 4 Shri Ajay Bahl, Founder Managing Partner, AZB Partners Member 5 Shri Amarjit Chopra, Senior Partner, GSA Associate Member 6 Shri Uday Kotak, MD, Kotak Mahindra Bank Member 7 Shri Arghya Sengupta, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy Member 8 Shri Sidharth Birla, Past President, FICCI Member 9 Ms. Preeti Malhotra, Partner and Executive Director of Smart Group Member 10. Joint Secretary (Policy) Member Secretary 2. The Committee may invite or co-opt subject matter experts relating to corporate law or any other subject matter, as well as experts from SEBI, RBI, C AG as needed. The committee may also invite any other person or body in the interest of broad based consultation. 3. The terms of reference of the Committee would be as follows : (i) To examine the nature of all acts categorized as compoundable offences viz. offences punishable with fine only or punishable with fine or imprisonment or both under the CA-13 and recommend if any of such acts may be re-categorized as acts which attract civil liabilities wherein the company and its officers in default are liable for penalty; (ii) To review the provisions relating to non-compoundable offences and recommend whether any such provisions need to be re-categorized as compoundable offence; (iii) To examine the existing mechanism of levy of penalty under the CA-13 and suggest any improvements thereon; (iv) To lay down the broad contours of an in-house adjudicatory mechanism where penalty may be levied in a MCA21 system driven manner so that discretion is minimized; (v) To take necessary steps in formulation of draft changes in the law; (vi) Any other matter which may be relevant in this regard. 4. Non-official members of the Committee will be eligible for travelling, conveyance and other allowances as per extant Government instructions, wherever the sponsoring agency is unable to bear their expenditure. Secretarial support to the Committee will be given by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. 5. The Committee shall submit its recommendations within thirty days of its first meeting. (Pranay Chaturvedi) Deputy Director Phone: 23071190