ROC
EXTENDED DUE DATE OF AGM
As
different ROC (Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru) issued
order for extension of AGM for the financial year ended 31st March,
2020 for Three months upto 31st December 2020 without seeking any
extension in GNL-1. Also expect other ROC will issue the same order soon.
As
per Section 96(1) of the Companies Act, 2013 ROC has the power to extend the
period of any AGM in special cases for period not exceeding three months. Hence
different ROC issued this order.
It
is also clarified under the order that the extension under this order shall
cover
- Pending
Applications filed in Form no GNL-1 for the extension of AGM for the financial
year ended on 31st March 2020, which are yet to be approved;
- Applications
filed in Form No GNL-1 for the extension of AGM for the financial year ended on
31st March 2020, which were rejected.
Below
is the excerpt of such order issued by different ROC:
As
per sub-section (1) Section 96 the Companies Act, 2013
1. Every
Company other than a One person company, shall in each year hold in addition to
any other meeting, a general meeting as its annual general meeting (AGM) and
shall specify the meeting as such in the notices calling it, and not more than
fifteen months shall elapse between the date of one AGM of a company and that
of the next;
2. And
whereas, the first proviso to sub-section (1) of section 96 of the Act provides
that in case of the first AGM, it shall be held within a period of nine months
from the date of closing of the first financial year of the company and in any
other case, within a period of six months, from the date of closing of the
financial year;
3. And
whereas, the third proviso to Section 96(1) of the Act provides that the
Registrar may, for any special reason, extend the time within which any annual
general meeting, other than the first annual general meeting, shall be held, by
a period not exceeding three months;
4. And
whereas, various representations have been received from the Companies,
industry bodies and Professional Institutes pointing out that several companies
are finding difficult to hold their AGM for the financial year ended 31st
March 2020 due to the difficulties faced in view of the COVID19 Pandemic;
5. And
whereas, the representations have been considered and the undersigned is of the
considered opinion that due to such unprecedented special reason, the time
within which the AGM for the financial year ended on 31st March,
2020 is required to be held as per provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 96
ought to be extended in terms of the third proviso to section 96(1);
6. Now,
therefore, in terms of power vested with the undersigned under the third
proviso to sub-section (1) of section 96 of the Act, I hereby extend the time
to hold the AGM, other than the first AGM, for the financial year ended on 31st
March 2020 for companies within the jurisdiction of this office, which are
unable to hold their AGM for such period within the due date of holding the AGM
by a period of three months from the due date by which the AGM ought to be have
been held in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) to section 96 of
the Act, without requiring the companies to file applications for seeking such extension by filing the prescribed form no
GNL-1.
Explantion: It
is hereby clarified that the extension granted under this order shall also
cover the;
- Pending
Applications filed in Form no GNL-1 for the extension of AGM for the financial
year ended on 31st March 2020, which are yet to be approved;
- Applications
filed in Form No GNL-1 for the extension of AGM for the financial year ended on
31st March 2020, which were rejected.
Where the
approval for extension of AGM upto 3 months from the due date of the AGM shall
be deemed to have been granted by the undersigned without any further action on
the part of the company.
DISCLAIMER:- THE ARTICLE HAS BEEN WRITTEN BY SUDHIR
ARYA, COMPANY SECRETARY IN PRACTICE & STARTUP CONSULTANT. DUE CARE HAS BEEN
TAKEN TO ENSURE THE CORRECTNESS OF INFORMATION. IT'S BASED ON THE RELEVANT
INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT THE TIME OF WRITING IT. HOWEVER, THIS ARTICLE CAN'T BE
CONSTRUCTED AS LEGAL OPINION AND WRITER WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT OR
INDIRECT RESULT FROM THIS ARTICLE. THIS ARTICLE IS ONLY FOR KNOWLEDGE SHARING
INITIATIVE.
ANY
SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME TO INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE ARTICLE. FOR ANY
QUERY OR SUGGESTION WRITER CAN BE REACHED AT MAILTOSUDHIRARYA@GMAIL.COM OR WWW.SUDHIRARYA.COM