Ministry of Corporate Affairs Launches new website

New Delhi, Sep 10 (UNI) The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has launched a new website, www.companyliquidator.gov.in, as part of its initiative to bring greater efficiency in the functioning of the official liquidators placed at the disposal of various high courts in the country.

The website, in addition to information about the offices of liquidators and the respective court jurisdictions for winding up and dissolution of companies, would provide information about sale and auction notices issued by various official liquidators regarding properties and assets of companies under liquidation and were ordered to be sold by the courts.

The text of the Company Court rules and the forms applicable in the process of liquidation would also be available on the website.

The process of winding up and liquidation of companies takes place under the Companies Act, 1956 under the supervision of the Courts. Quick and fair disposal of insolvency processes with maximisation of realisation for recovery by creditors has been rated as an important parameter for assessing the ease of doing business in a particular country by the World Bank.

In its Doing Business Report, 2008, World Bank has rated India as 137th in a total of 176 countries assessed so far as the efficacy of the insolvency process is concerned. Earlier, through the Companies (Second Amendment) Act, 2002, the establishment of National Company Law Tribunal and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal was envisaged to enable disposal of liquidation processes expeditiously through adjudication of Disciplinary Forum.

However, due to a legal challenge, this amendment, though enacted, could not be notified. The matter is under the consideration of the Supreme Court where it has been referred to a Constitution Bench.

The Ministry has taken up efforts to enable the process of liquidation takes place in an efficient, expeditious and transparent manner within the existing framework of the Companies Act, 1956.

To this end, the Ministry has also undertaken separate initiatives to improve the management of records and the accounting procedures to be applied by the official liquidators in connection with the the winding up process.

Proposals have also been made as a part of the exercise, taken up by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for comprehensive revision of the Companies Act, 1956 to modernise the legal framework for the liquidation and winding up and to bring it at par with the best of international practices.

A revised Bill containing new proposals for insolvency regulation was expected to be introduced in Parliament in its forthcoming Session.

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