Companies Act: Kolkata leads in withdrawal of cases

New Delhi, Aug 8, 2023

Nearly 70% of the cases where prosecution is being withdrawn by the ministry of corporate affairs relate to companies registered in Kolkata, the government informed Lok Sabha on Monday.

Data shared by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman showed that in the latest round where 7,338 cases of prosecution are being withdrawn, 5,111 are related to the Registrar of Companies Kolkata, with Patna being a distant second.

This is the second time such an action has been taken after over 14,247 prosecution actions were withdrawn, taking the total number to over 21,500 as part of a special drive to reduce pendency.

Based on the recommendations of a committee, cases that have been going on for a long time and involve technical violations of the Companies Act, have been taken up for withdrawal. "The main objective with which these committees were set up was to free the courts from dealing with offences that are procedural and technical in nature so that courts can concentrate on serious offences. The idea was to entrust cases of procedural and technical nature to regulatory authorities to handle them through an in-house mechanism, i.e. through the adjudication process," the finance minister said.

In the latest round, cases pending for over two years relating to striking of name, or those related to several violations listed under a section related to inspection and investigation or those related to limitation have been taken up. There are, however, certain exceptions. Separately, Sitharaman also told Parliament that the government has decriminalised several provisions of the Companies Act.

[The Times of India]