Saturday, September 3 2005 15:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Government yesterday (Sept 2, 2005) said a bill to amend Companies Act, 1956, expected to be tabled in the winters session of Parliament, will contain provisions against those siphoning off funds collected from the public.

"We will ensure that depositors are not defrauded and that incidents like Morepen Labs do not recur," Company Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta told mediapersons after addressing a CII seminar on 'Corporate Social Responsibility'.

The revised Act would have provisions for post-deposit or post-IPO investigations so that funds are not siphoned off, he said.

On Morepen Lab, he said two government directors have already been appointed on the board of the company and investigations are on.

He refused to divulge further, saying the case is sub-judice. Morepen Lab is accused of non-payment of funds collected from depositors.

The Union Government had alleged in the Company Law Board that the company had raised deposits of Rs 156.19 crore from public to fund its long-term capital requirements but from October 2002 has failed to repay the matured deposits.

The Union Minister said the revised act will be quite simpler and more clear-cut and will have about 300 provisions compared to more than 400 provisions in the present legislation.