Freedom of Information Bill likely this session: Jethmalani

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 10. The Union Law Minister, Mr. Ram Jethmalani, said today that the Freedom of Information Bill was ready and would, in all likelihood, be introduced in the current session of Parliament and possibly on May 17.

Speaking on the occasion of release of two CD-ROMs - one on top 25,000 companies in the corporate sector in the country and the other about 5.5 lakh functioning companies registered under the Companies Act, he said the Bill had been examined and vetted by experts and once enacted, it surely would be an improvement on its ``American counterpart''.

Hailing the two CD-ROMs as reflection of the Bill in advance in view of their rich information contents, Mr. Jethmalani said the restriction on the freedom to information would be bare minimum and these would be consistent with the provisions of the Constitution.

Mr. Jethmalani lauded the efforts of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy and the Department of Company Affairs for producing the CD-ROM on 25,000 top firms and said this was a path-breaking effort of the department which would go a long way in facilitating better business transactions based on transparent information.

Referring to the other CD-ROM jointly produced by the Department of Company Affairs and the National Informatics Centre profiling 5.5 lakh functional companies in the country, the Minister said these two information packages would enable the corporate sectors as well as individuals to take sound business and investment decisions. People would be better equipped to make a choice in relation to investments in stocks and capital market.

Financial institutions would benefit immensely for one of the CD had comprehensive information about assets, liabilities and financial liquidities of the companies. The compiled information which could be easily accessed would also help control non- performing assets apart from promoting a healthy investment climate with attendant openness and transparency to meet the requirements of emerging globalisation of the Indian economy.

He said the three premier corporate institutes - the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India, and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India - would function in close tandem with each other in order to provide cohesive and integrated coordinated approach to the evolving excellence in corporate governance. For the purpose these institutes would soon be entering into a memorandum of understanding envisaging joint existence and joint action by them.

The Minister of State for Law, Mr. O. Rajagopal, who was present on the occasion, also released the first ever fortnightly newsletter of the Department of Company Affairs called `` Corporate Vani'' and said that it would serve as an instrument for information dissemination from the department.

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