The government is planning to introduce a Bill in the Budget session of Parliament seeking to amend certain provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, and the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, on the basis of the recommendations made by the Naresh Chandra committee on corporate-auditor relations and the findings of the joint parliamentary committee on stocks scam.

In addition, the department of company affairs was planning to reintroduce the Companies Amendment Bill, 1997, after removing some of the provisions that had already been taken care of through the amendment Bills introduced in 2000, DCA Secretary V K Dhall told reporters.

Dhall said a committee, under the chairmanship of R D Joshi, had submitted its report some time ago and the department of company affairs was in the process of firming up the proposals.

He said the department had gone through the Naresh Chandra committee's recommendations and identified the areas that would require legislative amendments and those that could be carried out by issuing rules and notifications.

Dhall said the department would start the process of drafting rules and amendments shortly. He also said the committee's recommendations would override the suggestions made by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, which had proposed certain legislative changes to the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, in order to get more teeth in disciplinary matters.

"The Naresh Chandra committee had representation from a larger section of people and had gone into all the aspects assigned to it in detail. It also included some members from the ICAI," the DCA secretary said.

The department, along with the Securities and Exchange Board of India, has also stepped up its drive against vanishing companies.

Of the 229 cases identified by the Sebi, in 63 cases it was found that returns had been filed regularly.

Moreover, 65 companies have started filing returns, while 28 companies are under liquidation. Therefore, only 69 cases are pending.

In two cases, assets have been seized by the state governments concerned, while in two others, default notices have been issued and the companies have been asked to update their documents.

Dhall also announced the constitution of a new nine-member committee under the chairmanship of Naresh Chandra to look into the simplification of procedures for private limited companies and partnership firms.

He said the committee would also look at the regulatory and penal aspects governing corporates.