Priority will be to ensure enactment of new company law: Deora

New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) Murli Deora, the newly appointedCorporate Affairs Minister, today said that his priority wouldbe to ensure enactment of the new company law in theforthcoming Budget session.

"I am very sure to get the new Companies Bill throughin Parliament in the Budget session," Deora told reporterssoon after being named as the new Corporate Affairs Minister.

Deora is replacing Salman Khurshid, who has been elevatedas a Cabinet Minister and will now take charge of the WaterResources Ministry, with an additional charge of MinorityAffairs.

When asked if appointment to the new ministry disappointshim, he said, "No, I am not disappointed. It was a record thatno one was at Petroleum Ministry for five years... I takeeverything as a challenge. I''m a businessman, an industrialistI know what is Corporate Affairs... thoda gyaan hai, bakilelenge (I have some knowledge about Corporate Affairs, rest Iwill acquire)," Deora said.

In his new portfolio, Deora would have the responsibilityto first ensure that the Companies Bill 2009 is brought beforeParliament for consideration and passage.

The new Companies Bill, which seeks to fix greaterresponsibility on independent directors, came against thebackdrop of the multi-crore accounting fraud in SatyamComputer Services, exposing gaping holes in the existingcorporate governance norms and highlighted the need forstricter rules.

The Bill also seeks to protect the rights of minorityshareholders, bring about responsible self-regulation withadequate disclosure and accountability, and lesser governmentcontrol over internal corporate processes.

Companies Bill 2009, which lapsed with the dissolutionof the 14th Lok Sabha, was reintroduced in the Lok Sabha inAugust 2009.

Subsequently, in August 2010 the Parliamentary StandingCommittee on Finance gave its report after examining theprovisions of the law.

The Ministry is also yet to notify the key provisions ofthe Competition Act 2002 that would give competition watchdogCCI the power to vet high voltage mergers and acquisitions.