'De-criminalisation of most offences under the Companies Act, 2013 is key to E-adjudication framework' - Elaborate highlighting recent developments in this context.

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) seeks to review offences under the Companies Act, 2013 as some of the offences may be required to be decriminalised and handled through an in-house mechanism, where a penalty could be levied in the events of default, which would also reduce the burden on the trail courts by allowing them to pay more attention on offences of serious nature. The Key Recommendations of the MCA Committee on Review of Penal Provisions of Companies Act 2013 are as under: (i) Restructuring of Corporate Offences to relieve Special Courts from adjudicating routine offences: (a) re-categorization of 16 out of the 81 compoundable offences by shifting them from the jurisdiction of special courts to an in-house E-adjudication framework wherein defaults would be subject to levy of penalty by the authorised adjudicating officer (Registrar of Companies); (b) remaining 65 compoundable offences to continue under the jurisdiction of special courts due to their potential misuse; (c) similarly, status quo recommended in respect of all non-compoundable offences, which relate to serious corporate offences; (d) instituting a transparent online platform for e-adjudication and E-publication of orders; and (e) Necessitating a concomitant order for making good the default at the time of levying penalty, to achieve better compliance. The decriminalisation of the offence paved the way for e-adjudication framework. The system has become effective as the offences are decriminalised and the minor offences are dealt by e-adjudication framework.