Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Corporate Affairs

20-December-2012 19:32 IST

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs had initially identified 238 companies as vanishing companies. Out of these, names of 151 companies have since been deleted from the list as the companies started filing their Balance Sheets etc. with Registrars of Companies as well as Stock Exchanges and the criteria for treating a company as ‘vanishing’ is no longer applicable to them. Giving this information in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today, Shri Sachin Pilot, Minister of Corporate Affairs, said that thus, as on date, 87 companies are considered falling under the ‘vanishing’ category. The total amount of Public Issues made by these 87 companies amounted to Rs. 341.90 crore.

Shri Pilot said that FIRs have been lodged against all the 87 vanishing companies and their directors with the Police to trace their whereabouts and also to take action under Indian Penal Code (IPC). Further, prosecutions have been filed against vanishing companies and their Directors under Sections 162 and 220 of the Companies Act, 1956 for non-filing of Statutory Returns and under Sections 62/63, 68 and 628 of the Companies Act, 1956 for mis-statement in prospectus/fraudulently inducing persons to invest money/false statements made in the offer documents, etc. Promoters/directors of the vanishing companies were also debarred by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) from raising money from the public under Section 11B of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act. Besides, details of vanishing companies and their promoters/directors have been published in the Newspapers as well as placed on the website of the Ministry (www.mca.gov.in) to facilitate the investors to come forward and lodge their complaints against vanishing companies.

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KKP

FIRs against vanishing companies prompt criminal investigations and regulatory debarment under securities law, and company law prosecutions follow. FIRs have been lodged against 87 vanishing companies and their directors to enable criminal investigations and tracing of their whereabouts; prosecutions under company law have been initiated for non filing of statutory returns and for alleged misstatements in prospectuses. Promoters and directors have been debarred from raising public funds under securities law, and details have been published to facilitate investor complaints.