Our suggestions on Securities Market Code Bill reflected in the Parliamentary Standing Committee Report

By Natasha Aggarwal

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In December 2025, the Securities Market Code Bill 2025 (“SMC”) was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Ministry of Finance, and subsequently referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance (Committee). The SMC seeks to consolidate India’s securities laws by replacing several existing statutes with a single legislative framework. Following its introduction, the Bill was referred to the Committee for a detailed examination. The Committee invited comments; a group of us, comprising Natasha Aggarwal, Pratik Datta, K. P. Krishnan, Bhavin Patel, M. S. Sahoo, Renuka Sane, Ajay Shah and Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah, submitted comments in March 2026.

Our comments sought to strengthen legislative clarity, enhance predictability and proportionality in enforcement, and better align the SMC with rule of law principles and the efficient functioning of markets.

The Committee published its report on 23 July, and we’re pleased to share that several of our recommendations have been accepted. These are mentioned in the table below:

Some of our other recommendations, such as the removal of all criminal liabilities and prescribing a maximum timeline for the adjudicatory process, were not accepted or acknowledged.

We hope that these recommendations are reflected in the SMC, and are encouraged by the fact that several of our recommendations will contribute to a securities law framework that better reflects rule of law principles by promoting legislative clarity, certainty, transparent decision-making, and institutional accountability. For a complete mapping of our recommendations against the Committee’s recommendations, see here.

- The author is a researcher at TrustBridge, and would like to thank Bhavin Patel and Renuka Sane for their feedback.

CITATION

Natasha Aggarwal, 2026. “Our suggestions on Securities Market Code reflected in the Parliamentary Standing Committee Report”, The Bridge, TrustBridge Rule of Law Foundation

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