(a) Rule 8(3) of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibilities Policy),
2014 provides the class of companies that are required conduct an impact
assessment.
Every company having average CSR obligation of ten crore rupees or
more in pursuance of section 135(5) of the Companies Act, 2013, in the
three immediately preceding financial years, shall undertake impact
assessment, through an independent agency, of their CSR projects having
outlays of one crore rupees or more, and which have been completed not
less than one year before undertaking the impact study.
The above-mentioned companies may undertake impact assessment,
through an independent agency.
Alternate Answer
(i) Meaning of Impact Assessment:
The impact assessment is an exercise to assess the social, economic and
environmental impact of a particular CSR project. Impact assessment
intends to evaluate “social, economic and environmental return on
investment”. It is the exercise of taking a retroactive view of the
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities completed by the entity
and assess the effects of these activities on various stakeholders like
employees, customers, communities and the environment.
Impact assessment is seemingly another step to encourage
companies to make considered decisions before deploying CSR
amounts and assess the impacts of their investments to capture the
impact being generated by them. This shall not only serve as
feedback for companies to plan and better allocate resources, but
shall also deepen the impact of CSR.
(ii) Whether the impact assessment is to be taken by all Companies?
Since impact assessment is cost-intensive and time consuming, the
idea is to obligate only certain classes of companies which have large
amount of spending and have completed their large CSR projects.
Accordingly, Rule 8(3)
of the
Companies (Corporate Social
Responsibilities Policy), 2014 requires the following class of
companies to conduct an impact assessment:
Every company having average CSR obligation of ₹ 10 crore or more
in the three immediately preceding financial years of their CSR
projects having outlays of 1 crore rupees or more, and which have
been completed not less than 1 year before undertaking impact
assessment.
(iii) Who can conduct an impact assessment?
The impact assessment shall be conducted by an independent
agency.
(b) Circumstances in which Limited Liability Partnership may be wound
up by Tribunal (Section 64 of the Limited Liability Partnership Act,
2008):
A limited liability partnership may be wound up by the Tribunal:
(a) if the limited liability partnership decides that limited liability
partnership be wound up by the Tribunal;
CORPORATE AND OTHER LAWS
(b) if, for a period of more than six months, the number of partners of
the limited liability partnership is reduced below two;
(c) if the limited liability partnership is unable to pay its debts;
(d) if the limited liability partnership has acted against the interests of
the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State or
public order;
(e) if the limited liability partnership has made a default in filing with the
Registrar the Statement of Account and Solvency or annual return for
any five consecutive financial years; or
(f) if the Tribunal is of the opinion that it is just and equitable that the
limited liability partnership be wound up.
(c) Definition of the term “Person”
As per section 3(42) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, “Person” shall
include:
-
any company, or
-
an association, or
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body of individuals, whether incorporated or not.
From the above definition, we can conclude:
(i) An Idol: An idol is a juristic person. A juristic person is a legal entity
with a legal personality that is recognized by law. Hence, an idol is a
person.
(ii) A Public Body: A public body to be a person need not always be set-
up by the statute. It may be set-up by the Government by exercising
its executive function. A public body is a legal entity and is treated as
a "person."
(iii) A Company: The definition of person includes a company. Thus, a
company is a person.