Q.Why is voluntary winding up no longer dealt with under the Companies Act, 2013? Explain briefly.

Voluntary winding up was moved out of the Companies Act, 2013 when the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 came into force, so that all insolvency and voluntary-liquidation matters could be handled under one unified code.

Before the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was enacted, the Companies Act, 2013 itself contained a complete scheme for voluntary winding up (originally Sections 304 to 323), alongside the provisions for compulsory winding up by the Tribunal. A company could choose to wind itself up voluntarily, and the process (members' voluntary or creditors' voluntary, depending on solvency) was conducted largely outside the Tribunal's day-to-day supervision.

The reform. The IBC, 2016 was enacted to bring together, under one comprehensive code, all the law relating to the insolvency resolution and liquidation of companies, limited liability partnerships, and individuals, which had previously been scattered across several statutes (including the Companies Act, the Sick Industrial Companies Act, and others). As part of achieving this consolidation, the Eleventh Schedule to the IBC amended the Companies Act, 2013 to omit its voluntary-winding-up provisions altogether. …

Some students assume the Companies Act still has voluntary-winding-up sections simply because it is the general company-law statute; the correct, current answer is that those …