Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Lok Sabha during the budget session of Parliament in New Delhi on March 23, 2026. | Photo credit: ANI
The government introduced the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha on Monday after which the House passed a motion to refer the proposed legislation to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed consideration.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee will consist of members of both the Houses of Parliament for detailed analysis and recommendations, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while proposing the proposal to refer to the JPC. The proposal was accepted by voice.
The bill seeks to make further changes to the Limited Partnerships Act 2008 and the Companies Act 2013 to make it easier to do business and address loopholes identified by the Company Law Committee in its 2022 report. The proposed changes are expected to streamline penalties, shift several minor procedural deficiencies from criminal liability to monetary penalties, and streamline regulatory processes to make business easier.
Ms. Sitharaman said the bill aims to further ease the business and life of corporations by decriminalizing more provisions and amending some other provisions.
When the bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, opposition members such as Manish Tewari (Congress), Saugata Roy (Trinamool Congress) and T Sumathy (DMK) opposed it, arguing that the legislation sought to water down the provisions of the law that mandate companies pay 2% of their profits towards corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The finance minister refuted the allegations, saying the bill was introduced after two years of deliberations and members’ concerns were unfounded as the proposed legislation seeks to amend only the net profit criteria and not the entire CSR clause.
Mr. Tewari also said that since there is already a parliamentary standing committee on corporate affairs, the bill should be sent to that panel rather than forming a new joint parliamentary committee.
Intervening, Home Minister Amit Shah said none of the opposition members had talked about referring the legislation to a parliamentary committee and now that the FM had asked for it, they were arguing to which panel the bill should be sent.
Published – 23 March 2026 20:10 IST
