New Delhi: According to the union minister for corporate affairs, Prem Chand Gupta, a draft of the new Company Law Bill is nearing the finishing stages, and would be introduced in the forthcoming Budget Session of Parliament.
 
Addressing the audience at FICCI's 80th annual general meeting on 'The Corporate Affairs of India: The Way Forward', the Gupta said that the new law will promote shareholders' democracy, and replace the 'approval based system' with a system of responsible disclosures. It will additionally promote good corporate governance and investor protection. He said that the law would be administered by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

"In order to address the various issues that came up during the litigation against the proposed CCI, the law has been amended and now we are in the process of operationalising the CCI at the earliest,'' he added.

Attempting to address concerns of the trade and industry over 'combination regulation', Gupta said, "I have discussed these issues with my officers in the ministry as well as officers of the CCI and found that most of the apprehensions to be the outcome of incomplete and inadequate appreciation of the law and the fear of the unknown," adding that ''there appears to be a presumption that the provisions of the law are going to be implemented with a negative mindset.''

Gupta said he had advised his officers to address genuine concerns of all stakeholders through regulations, which should be framed through a transparent and wide consultative process.

The minister urged corporates to "look at these regulations with an open and positive mind as no law can be evaluated on the presumption of 'lack of good faith' and that too before it is actually implemented."
 
Addressing the problem of liquidation, the minister said a key problem in corporate functioning was the slow liquidation process, which takes 10 years on average to liquidate a company.

In the bargain, the value of assets of the company gets eroded. Gupta said the issue is now being addressed in the new law, with the approach being based on the general principles adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.