Lok Sabha Question No. 1398 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-09
Subject: Penalties under the Companies Act
Ministry: CORPORATE AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri M K Raghavan, Adv. Adoor Prakash, Dr. Kalyan Vaijinathrao Kale, Shri K Sudhakaran

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.1398

## ANSWERED ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 09, 2026

Penalties under the Companies Act

1398. Shri M K Raghavan Adv. Adoor Prakash Dr. Kalyan Vaijinathrao Kale Shri K Sudhakaran

Will the Minister of CORPORATE AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether the Government has observed an increase in cases of noncompliance with provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 in the country during the last ten years;
- (b)   if so, the total number of companies penalised for non-compliance under various provisions of the Companies Act, 2013, during the last ten years, year and State/UT-wise;
- (c)   the total number of penalties imposed and amount recovered during this period;
- (d)    the number of companies struck off from the register of companies for non-filing of statutory returns since 2020, year-wise;
- (e)        the  action  taken  by  the  Government  to  strengthen  corporate governance and protect minority shareholders; and
- (f)   whether the Government has conducted any review of the impact of these  enforcement  measures  on  improving  corporate  governance  and compliance levels, if so, details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs; Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

(SHRI HARSH MALHOTRA)

(a)   There is no trend indicating an increase in non-compliance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013. (b)    The  details  of  total  number  of  companies  penalised  for  various provisions of the Companies Act, 2013, during the last ten years, State wise are at Annexure - I. (c) The details of number of penalties imposed and amount recovered during  the  last  10  years  are  at  Annexure  -  II  and  Annexure  -  III respectively. (d)  The details of number of companies struck off are at Annexure -IV. (e)    The  provisions  of  the  Companies  Act,  2013  and  the  rules  made thereunder contain adequate provisions to ensure financial accountability and transparency in the management of companies. The important  aspects  of  the  Companies  Act,  2013  for  safeguarding  the interests of all stakeholders including that of minority shareholders is at Annexure-V. (f)      The  Act  provides  a  legal  framework  to  address  minor  and  major violations,  including  inter  alia  adherence  to  accounting  and  auditing standards,  statutory  filings,  duties  of  the  Board  and  its  committees, responsibilities of  independent directors and auditors, and mandatory disclosures. Enforcement actions including adjudication, compounding and court convictions have led to the penalisation of such companies for non-compliance.  These enforcement actions are monitored regularly.

*****

## Total number of companies penalised for non-compliance

|   S. No. | Name of State/ UT      |   2016- 2017 |   2017- 2018 |   2018- 2019 |   2019- 2020 |   2020- 2021 |   2021- 2022 |   2022- 2023 |   2023- 2024 |   2024- 2025 |   31.12.25 |
|----------|------------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh         |            0 |            0 |            0 |            5 |            0 |            8 |          136 |           21 |            7 |          4 |
|        2 | Arunach al Pradesh     |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |          0 |
|        3 | Assam                  |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            2 |            4 |            4 |            4 |            9 |          2 |
|        4 | Bihar                  |            0 |            0 |           17 |           25 |            3 |           14 |           55 |           31 |           19 |          7 |
|        5 | Chandig arh            |            0 |            0 |            0 |            1 |            3 |            6 |            2 |            3 |           10 |          0 |
|        6 | Chhattis garh          |            0 |            4 |            0 |            0 |            0 |           19 |            7 |           68 |           34 |         19 |
|        7 | Dadar and Nagar Haveli |           00 |           00 |           00 |           00 |           00 |           00 |           01 |           02 |           00 |         00 |
|        8 | Daman &Diu             |            0 |            0 |            0 |            7 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            1 |            1 |          1 |
|        9 | Goa                    |            0 |            0 |            7 |          101 |            0 |            0 |            5 |            0 |            9 |          8 |
|       10 | Gujarat                |            0 |            0 |            0 |           25 |            5 |           47 |          152 |          169 |           57 |         48 |
|       11 | Haryana                |            6 |           14 |            0 |            6 |            2 |            5 |           29 |           37 |           19 |         24 |
|       12 | Himach al Pradesh      |            0 |            0 |            0 |            1 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            2 |            2 |          0 |
|       13 | Jharkha nd             |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            1 |          0 |
|       14 | Karnata ka             |            0 |            0 |           18 |          112 |           89 |           98 |           66 |           93 |          202 |         96 |
|       15 | KERAL A                |           31 |            9 |            5 |          240 |           89 |           24 |           98 |           11 |           20 |         10 |
|       16 | Madhya Pradesh         |            0 |            3 |            6 |           12 |           14 |           29 |           17 |           68 |           16 |          7 |
|       17 | Maharas htra           |            0 |            0 |          231 |          100 |           10 |           15 |           36 |          144 |          211 |        185 |
|       18 | Manipur                |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |          0 |

## Annexure - I

| S. N.   | Name of State/ UT      |   2016- 2017 |   2017- 2018 |   2018- 2019 |   2019- 2020 |   2020- 2021 |   2021- 2022 |   2022- 2023 |   2023- 2024 |   2024- 2025 |   31.12.25 |
|---------|------------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|------------|
| 19.     | Meghala ya             |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            1 |            0 |          0 |
| 20.     | Mizora m               |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |          0 |
| 21.     | Nagalan d              |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |          0 |
| 22.     | NCTof Delhi            |           58 |           13 |           20 |          103 |           52 |           31 |          110 |          141 |          135 |        107 |
| 23.     | Odisha                 |           22 |           18 |            2 |           31 |            4 |           10 |           12 |            7 |            3 |         18 |
| 24.     | Puduche rry            |            3 |            9 |            0 |            0 |            6 |            1 |           10 |           10 |            9 |          0 |
| 25.     | Punjab                 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            2 |            5 |           15 |            3 |           11 |           23 |         13 |
| 26.     | Rajastha n             |           11 |           14 |            8 |           13 |            3 |            3 |           21 |           23 |            3 |         10 |
| 27.     | Tamil Nadu             |           28 |            8 |           31 |           22 |           20 |           26 |           89 |           56 |          139 |         54 |
| 28.     | Telanga na             |          133 |            9 |           10 |           19 |            6 |           22 |            8 |            7 |           18 |         31 |
| 29.     | Tripura                |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |          0 |
| 30.     | UTof Jammu and Kashmir |            0 |            0 |            0 |            1 |            0 |            0 |            2 |            2 |            0 |          3 |
| 31.     | UTof Ladakh            |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |          0 |
| 32.     | Uttar Pradesh          |            0 |            0 |            0 |           31 |            0 |           22 |            3 |           18 |           80 |         29 |
| 33.     | Uttarak hand           |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            1 |            3 |            2 |          1 |
| 34.     | West Bengal            |           23 |            4 |           13 |            4 |            5 |            5 |           34 |           47 |           37 |         26 |
| 35.     | UTof Andaman & Nicobar |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |          0 |
| 36      | UTof Lakshad weep      |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |          0 |
|         | Total                  |          315 |          105 |          368 |          861 |          318 |          404 |          901 |          980 |         1066 |        703 |

## Total amount of penalties imposed (Amount in Rupees)

| S.    | Name of State/ UT      |   2016-2017 |   2017-2018 |   2018-2019 |   2019-2020 |   2020-2021 |   2021-2022 |   2022-2023 |   2023-2024 | 2024-2025   |   31.12.25 |
|-------|------------------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|------------|
| N. 1. | Andhra Pradesh         |           0 |           0 |           0 |      691000 |           0 |     5538750 |   163105200 |    36865400 | 8433800     |   25508900 |
| 2.    | Arunachal Pradesh      |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 | 0           |          0 |
| 3.    | Assam                  |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |      400000 |     1088000 |      758190 |     1627650 | 9239300     |    7770000 |
| 4.    | Bihar                  |           0 |           0 |     7200000 |     1285000 |     1231100 |     3160000 |    28471650 |    28300300 | 23871400    |   10313100 |
| 5.    | Chandigar h            |          00 |          00 |          00 |          00 |           0 |       15174 |          00 |     3353500 | 3353500     |         00 |
| 6.    | Chhattisg arh          |           0 |       34000 |           0 |           0 |           0 |     6224000 |     2051000 |    25581100 | 6796375     |   16236450 |
| 7.    | Dadar and Nagar Haveli |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |        6000 |      177600 | 0           |          0 |
| 8.    | Daman& Diu             |           0 |           0 |           0 |     5103600 |           0 |           0 |           0 |      400000 | 190000      |    1200000 |
| 9.    | Goa                    |           0 |           0 |           0 |    45462000 |           0 |           0 |     4675200 |           0 | 34897600    |   18439950 |
| 10.   | Gujarat                |        7850 |      334085 |     1132567 |      734500 |      886000 |    34524100 |    44563750 |    40927650 | 71426848    |   27887200 |
| 11.   | Haryana                |     2300000 |     2478000 |           0 |      600000 |      125000 |     1629000 |     4855842 |     8498923 | 76407600    |    9432500 |
| 12.   | Himachal Pradesh       |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |     4878850 | 0           |          0 |
| 13.   | Jharkhan d             |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 | 5,00,000    |          0 |
| 14.   | Karnatak a             |           0 |           0 |      620000 |    38590600 |    26962000 |    59087758 |    33645879 |    90429110 | 174469310   |   38006707 |
| 15.   | Kerala                 |           0 |           0 |           0 |    22945000 |           0 |           0 |       40000 |     5172200 | 14904100    |    2838600 |
| 16.   | Madhya Pradesh         |           0 |      729000 |      813000 |     2840000 |     2060000 |     5764000 |     5402400 |    78871800 | 17263100    |    3741000 |
| 17.   | Maharash tra           |           0 |           0 |     3110450 |    16266000 |    17143400 |    29822500 |    28090900 |   157610420 | 136056493   |  143541821 |
| 18.   | Manipur                |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 | 0           |          0 |

## Annexure - II

| S. N.   | Name of State/ UT           |   2016-2017 |   2017-2018 |   2018-2019 |   2019-2020 |   2020-2021 |   2021-2022 |   2022-2023 |   2023-2024 |   2024-2025 |   31.12.25 |
|---------|-----------------------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|------------|
| 19.     | Meghalay a                  |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |     1500000 |           0 |          0 |
| 20.     | Mizoram                     |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |          0 |
| 21.     | Nagaland                    |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |          0 |
| 22.     | NCT of Delhi                |    20985000 |     4952000 |     4947000 |     2691000 |     5817300 |     8547500 |    22322600 |    13910002 |    46137650 |   45061819 |
| 23.     | Odisha                      |     1867000 |     5106000 |     2097000 |    18100600 |     1156000 |     8532400 |     9158300 |     7431600 |     8860700 |   21717900 |
| 24.     | Puducherr y                 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |       51000 |     4011900 |     4115000 |    14954000 |          0 |
| 25.     | Punjab                      |           0 |           0 |           0 |      555000 |     1288000 |     6761300 |      931950 |     8719700 |    17212800 |   63200000 |
| 26.     | Rajasthan                   |       82858 |      491284 |      406012 |      265200 |       20000 |     3485500 |    14918050 |    16671000 |    47165400 |    1755000 |
| 27.     | Tamil Nadu                  |           0 |           0 |           0 |    49763500 |     2960000 |     4249700 |    88318100 |    60738106 |   141853569 |   51223200 |
| 28.     | Telangana                   |           0 |           0 |           0 |     5767200 |      463200 |     3893600 |    20814382 |    25693450 |    23148400 |          0 |
| 29      | Tripura                     |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |          0 |
| 30      | UT of Jammu &               |           0 |           0 |           0 |      400000 |           0 |           0 |     2004000 |     8397200 |           0 |    1841000 |
| 31.     | Kashmir UT of Ladakh        |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |          0 |
| 32      | Uttar Pradesh               |           0 |           0 |           0 |    10100000 |           0 |     8224000 |     2292600 |    23871600 |   197838700 |   52074500 |
| 33.     | Uttarakha nd                |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |      250000 |      993000 |      843400 |     622000 |
| 34.     | West Bengal                 |     4882500 |      700000 |      334500 |     1047500 |     1639100 |     1500000 |    28808200 |    27839000 |    14244800 |   12585450 |
| 35      | UT of Andaman               |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |          0 |
| 36      | &Nicobar UT of Lakshadw eep |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |          0 |
|         | Total                       |    30125208 |    14824369 |    20660529 |   223207700 |    62151100 |   192083108 |   509496093 |   679220661 |  1090068845 |  554997097 |

## Total amount recovered in the last ten years (Amount in Rupees)

|   S. N. | Name of State/ UT      |   2016-2017 |   2017-2018 |   2018-2019 |   2019-2020 |   2020-2021 |   2021-2022 |   2022-2023 |   2023-2024 |   2024-2025 |   31.12.25 |
|---------|------------------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|------------|
|       1 | Andhra Pradesh         |           0 |           0 |           0 |      496200 |           0 |     2041950 |    35811260 |     4357400 |     1545000 |      10000 |
|       2 | Arunachal Pradesh      |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |          0 |
|       3 | Assam                  |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |      400000 |     1088000 |      758190 |      839350 |      415000 |     777000 |
|       4 | Bihar                  |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |      534400 |      342000 |      911050 |       5000 |
|       5 | Chandigar h            |          00 |          00 |          00 |           0 |          00 |          00 |          00 |          00 |      992000 |         00 |
|       6 | Chhattisg arh          |           0 |       25000 |        9000 |           0 |           0 |       24000 |      150000 |     1115000 |     2866375 |    1104000 |
|       7 | Dadar and Nagar Haveli |          00 |          00 |          00 |           0 |           0 |           0 |          00 |           0 |           0 |          0 |
|       8 | Daman& Diu             |           0 |           0 |           0 |      196850 |           0 |           0 |           0 |      400000 |      190000 |          0 |
|       9 | Goa                    |           0 |           0 |           0 |     1746055 |           0 |           0 |      900000 |           0 |    34897600 |    8572050 |
|      10 | Gujarat                |         500 |       33300 |       29400 |        6000 |           0 |        3000 |           0 |           0 |           0 |          0 |
|      11 | Haryana                |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |      125000 |      110000 |     1138000 |     6150718 |     4080800 |    6812500 |
|      12 | Himachal Pradesh       |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |          0 |
|      13 | Jharkhan d             |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |      500000 |          0 |
|      14 | Karnatak a             |           0 |           0 |      620000 |    13280740 |    17892500 |    19900758 |    13705429 |    35231241 |    67482558 |    7045814 |
|      15 | KERALA                 |           0 |           0 |           0 |     4496850 |           0 |           0 |       40000 |      450000 |     1163000 |     860000 |
|      16 | Madhya Pradesh         |           0 |           0 |      340000 |      120000 |      565000 |     1402000 |     1903400 |      948500 |      727250 |    3241000 |
|      17 | Maharash tra           |           0 |           0 |     3110450 |     1845000 |     1611500 |    12745800 |    20662500 |    38400800 |    58357710 |   14687743 |
|      18 | Manipur                |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |           0 |          0 |

## Annexure - III

| S. N.   | Name of State/ UT       | 2016-2017   | 2017-2018   | 2018-2019   | 2019-2020   | 2020-2021   | 2021-2022   | 2022-2023   | 2023-2024   | 2024-2025   | 31.12.25   |
|---------|-------------------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|------------|
| 19.     | Meghala ya              | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 230000      | 0           | 0          |
| 20.     | Mizoram                 | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0          |
| 21.     | Nagalan d               | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0          |
| 22.     | NCT of Delhi            | 145000      | 0           | 1685000     | 388000      | 2378900     | 282900      | 5665750     | 4470000     | 9430918     | 15081931   |
| 23.     | Odisha                  | 363000      | 134000      | 0           | 20000       | 0           | 459000      | 160000      | 6331600     | 416500      | 4266100    |
| 24.     | Puduche rry             | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 51000       | 20000       | 80000       | 1800000     | 0          |
| 25.     | Punjab                  | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 88000       | 307000      | 0           | 1382500     | 4103000     | 1800000    |
| 26.     | Rajastha n              | 31758       | 133728      | 211000      | 0           | 15000       | 296000      | 1469500     | 4366150     | 7398380     | 0          |
| 27.     | Tamil Nadu              | 0           | 0           | 0           | 4282200     | 2960000     | 838700      | 8049700     | 1859400     | 9097800     | 8962700    |
| 28.     | Telangan a              | 0           | 0           | 0           | 4874200     | 463200      | 3133600     | 10386484    | 3471250     | 14499420    | 892000     |
| 29      | Tripura                 | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0          |
| 30      | UT of Jammu and Kashmir | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 404000      | 0           | 0           | 0          |
| 31.     | UT of Ladakh            | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0          |
| 32      | Uttar Pradesh           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 130000      | 0           | 0           | 0           | 50000       | 7872900     | 70000      |
| 33.     | Uttarakh and            | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 713000      | 843400      | 622000     |
| 34.     | West Bengal             | 0           | 140000      | 0           | 32500       | 0           | 185000      | 7439200     | 6832800     | 15723700    | 386500     |
| 35      | UT of Andama n& Nicobar | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0          |
| 36      | UT of Lakshad weep      | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0           | 0          |
|         | Total                   | 540258      |             |             | 31914595    |             |             | 109197813   | 118021709   | 245314361   |            |
|         |                         |             | 466028      | 6004850     |             | 26499100    | 42868708    |             |             |             | 75196338   |

Annexure-IV The number of companies struck off from the register of companies as per section 248(1) and 248(2) of the Companies Act, 2013.

| Sl. No.   | Year                  | No of companies struck off under the Companies Act   | No of companies struck off under the Companies Act   |
|-----------|-----------------------|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|           |                       | 248(1)                                               | and 248 (2)                                          |
| 1         | 2020-2021             | 217                                                  | 12,487                                               |
| 2         | 2021-2022             | 28,305                                               | 33,923                                               |
| 3         | 2022-2023             | 68,893                                               | 13,169                                               |
| 4         | 2023- 2024            | 0                                                    | 16,464                                               |
| 5         | 2024-2025             | 0                                                    | 15,837                                               |
| 6         | 2025- till 31.12.2025 | 0                                                    | 14,082                                               |
|           | Total                 | 97,415                                               | 1,05,962                                             |

## Safeguarding the interests of all stakeholders including that of minority shareholders

- (i) Accountability for management of companies through appointment of key managerial personnel, requirement for approvals by Board of directors and shareholders in accordance with the applicable provisions;
- (ii) Requirement for audit of financial statements by an independent chartered accountant;
- (iii) Requirement  to make  disclosures (in the form of notices, resolutions, postal ballots etc), from time to time, to the shareholders for information and approval by the shareholders;
- (iv) Requirement  to  make  adequate  disclosures  through  Board's report  including  with  regard  to  risk  management,  state  of  company's affairs,  material  changes  affecting  company's  financial  position  and other crucial parameters;
- (v) Requirements to file various documents, copies of resolutions, financial statements, returns etc. with the Registrar from time to time;
- (vi) The Registrar of Companies take action against the defaulting companies  who  fail  to  file  their  Annual  Returns  and/or  Financial Statements by either filing prosecution under section 92, 96, 99, 137 of the Companies Act, 2013 or by striking off the name of the companies under section 248 (1) of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Companies (Removal of names of companies from the Register of Companies) Rules, 2016.

Provision for the protection of Minority shareholders the following provisions are provided in the Companies Act 2013 and the Rules made thereunder.

- (a) Sections 241 to 246, allow minority shareholders to approach the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) if the company's affairs are being conducted in a manner "prejudicial" or "oppressive" to them.

(b) Under  Section  151,  a  listed  company  may  have  one  director elected specifically by small shareholders (those holding shares with a nominal value of not more than ₹20,000). (c) Under Section 235, In a scheme of arrangement, if a majority (90% in  value)  agrees  to  a  transfer  of  shares,  the  transferee  company  can acquire the shares of dissenting shareholders, but they have the right to appeal to the Tribunal if the offer is unfair. (d) Under Section 236, If a majority acquirer reaches 90% shareholding, they must offer to buy out the remaining minority at a price determined by a registered valuer. (e) Under  Section  100,  Shareholders  having  not  less  than  10%  of voting power having the Right to requisition an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). (f) Under Section 94, shareholders have the right to inspect statutory registers and minutes of general meetings. (g)

- Related  Party  Transactions  under  Section  188,  In  all  material transactions  between  the  company  and  its  promoters/directors  as prescribed in the Rule 15(3) of Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers)  Rules  2014,  require  shareholders'  approval.  The  interested shareholders  cannot  vote  on  such  resolutions,  giving  the  minority shareholders the required protection.

*******