Advocate Gourav Sharma
Delhi High Court
Dated 05-09-2020
As per section 96 of the Companies Act 2013 every company other than a One Person Company shall hold the Annual General Meeting within six months of closing of each financial year and not more than fifteen months shall elapse between the date of one annual general meeting of a company and that of the next.
In Annual General Meeting the shareholders approve the Audited Financial Statements of the Company for the closing financial year therefore it is very important to hold the Annual General Meeting each year.
Now in 2020 the whole world is facing the Covid-19 pandemic so therefore it is very difficult for companies to hold the Annual General Meeting.
Therefore, lots of representations have been made in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, for providing relaxations in the provisions of Companies Act, 2013 or rules made thereunder to allow companies to hold their annual general meeting (AGM) for the financial year ended on 31st March, 2020 beyond the statutory period provided in section 96 of the Act.
Although Ministry of Corporate Affairs vide General Circular No. 20/2020, dated 05.05.2020 has allowed the companies to hold AGM through video conferencing (VC) or other audio-visual means (OAVM) for the calendar year 2020
But still some companies are still not able to hold the AGM within stipulated time because due to lockdown offices were closed and companies were not able to finalise their accounts for audit.
Now Ministry has clarified that the companies which are unable to hold their AGMs are advised to prefer applications for extension of AGM and should file their applications in form No. GNL-1 for seeking extension of time in holding of AGM for the financial year ended on 31.03.2020 with the concerned Registrar of Companies on or before 29.09.2020 and extension can be given only up to for three months.
Notification http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/GeneralCircularNo.28_17082020.pdf
Thanks
Regards
Advocate Gourav Sharma
Delhi High Court
Mobile 9716305051
Email- csgouravsharma@gmail.com
Website www.legaludaan.com