Lok Sabha
The Government constituted an Expert Group headed by Shri O.P. Vaish on Streamlining Prosecution Mechanism under the Companies Act 1956.
Terms of reference of the Expert Group were as under: -
(i) Identification of broad categories of offences for which cases filed for violations of Companies Act 1956 are pending and the period thereof;
(ii) The reasons for excessive pendency where relevant;
(iii) Review of the steps taken in the past to expedite disposal of these cases, their outcome and the constraints;
(iv) Identifying ways and means through which disposal of these cases could be expedited;
(v) Ways and means for expeditious disposal of cases of purely technical nature and workable mechanism to enable this in a definite time frame.
The report of the Vaish Committee has been received and is under examination. Rationalization of the cases for prosecution for violations of Companies Act 1956 may result in cases pertaining to offences of procedural nature being disposed of expeditiously, thereby enabling greater focus on prosecution for more serious offences.
This information was given by Shri Prem Chand Gupta, Minister of Company Affairs in reply to the question raised by Shri Abdullakutty and Shri Bapu Hari Chaure in Lok Sabha today.
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