Lok Sabha Referrals Corporate Laws Amendment Bill to Joint Parliamentary Committee
New Delhi, March 23 – The Lok Sabha referred the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) on Monday following a voice vote. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman initiated the referral after the Bill was introduced.Opposition members, including Manish Tewari of the Congress, Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress, and T Sumathy of the DMK, voiced concerns that the legislation would dilute provisions requiring companies to contribute 2 per cent of their profits to corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Finance Minister Sitharaman refuted these allegations, stating the Bill stemmed from two years of deliberations and focused solely on amending the criteria for net profits, not the entire CSR clause. She proposed sending the Bill to a JPC for extensive analysis and recommendations.
Tewari suggested that the existing parliamentary standing committee on corporate affairs should handle the Bill instead. Home Minister Amit Shah intervened, noting the lack of discussion on a parliamentary committee referral during the initial debate. Speaker Om Birla then approved the finance minister’s proposal for a JPC, sending the Bill for selection of its members.
The Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, intends to amend the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act, 2008, and the Companies Act. The Bill’s objective is to simplify business processes and address gaps identified by the Company Law Committee in its 2022 report.
The Union Cabinet had previously approved the Bill, aiming to reduce the compliance burden on businesses and advance the government’s agenda of decriminalizing minor corporate offenses.
Proposed amendments include rationalizing penalties, shifting minor procedural lapses to monetary penalties, and streamlining regulatory processes. The reforms are also designed to improve the corporate compliance framework, reduce litigation, and foster a more facilitative regulatory environment for companies, LLPs, ‘one person companies’, small companies, startups, and producer companies.
Minister Sitharaman emphasized the Bill’s goal of promoting ease of doing business and ease of living for corporations by decriminalizing certain provisions and amending others, aligning with the evolving corporate landscape.
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