The Companies (Amendment) Act 2017 – Incremental Reform Continues

Introduction

The Companies Act, 2013 (Act) was the legislative outcome of a process that had begun a decade earlier. Desiring a simplified and compact law with flexible rule making powers for 'ever changing business models', the Central Government constituted the JJ Irani Expert Committee on Company Law (Irani Committee). Unfortunately, the process from committee report to enactment resulted in a rather voluminous statute with reams of rules, riddled with drafting ambiguities and regulatory overlap.

Consequently, numerous stakeholders reported challenges in implementing the provisions of the Act. Despite an initial amendment and a flurry of clarifications, orders and rules, the Central Government set up another committee, the Companies Law Committee[1] (CLC) in 2016 to see where 'the shoe pinches'.