Check illegitimate lobbying: Khurshid

KOLKATA: Union minister for corporate affairs Salman Khurshid on Thursday said that though corporate lobbying is a democratic right, but its illegitimate use needs to be curbed.

“Corporate lobbying is nothing illegal and it is a democratic right. But it has to be within legitimate limits,” Khurshid told reporters on the sidelines of India Corporate Week organised by Ficci here. Referring to the 2G scam involving corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, Khurshid said, “We are all concerned about corporate lobbying... There is a need to consult among the concerned ministries and also to see whether the existing laws are fit to deal with it,” Khurshid said.

He said there was a need to ascertain if a separate law was required to deal with the illegality of corporate lobbying . Also there was a need for a transparency model, the minister observed saying though “this may suggest declaration by corporates about their lobbyists and so on,” the minister said.

The Right to Information would also have to be examined whether it covered corporate lobbying. On the Companies Bill, he said that it would be introduced in the Budget session of Parliament.