Rajya Sabha
The Committee on New Company Law headed by Dr. J.J. Irani submitted its Report to the Government on 31.05.2005. The recommendation regarding the number of independent directors contained in para 8.2 of Chapter IV of the said Report reads as under:-
“8.2. In general, in view of the Committee a minimum of one third of the total number of directors as independent directors should be adequate for a company having significant public interest, irrespective of whether the Chairman is executive or non-executive, independent or not. In the first instance this requirement should be extended to public listed companies and companies accepting public deposits. The requirements for other types of companies may be considered in due course”.
The report submitted by Dr. J.J. Irani covered a wide range of issues including registration of companies, management and board governance, investor protection, access to capital, accounts and audit, mergers and acquisitions, investigation, offences & penalties and restructuring & liquidation etc. The report of the Committee is on the website of the Ministry www.dca.nic.in.
This information was given by Shri Prem Chand Gupta, Minister of Company Affairs in reply to a question raised by Shri K. Rama Mohana Rao in Rajya Sabha today.
BY/AN