Types of Meeting - Company Meetings (Part - 2) - Company Law | Company Law - B Com PDF Download

Subsequent annual general meeting

As already discussed a company is required to hold an annual general meeting in each year. Where a meeting called and held on a day in one year is adjourned to a date in the next year and held on that date, the meeting held on the latter date is not a different meeting and does not comply with the requirements of Section 166. However, the gap between one annual general meting and the next should not be more than fifteen months.

In the case of Shree Meenakshi Mills Company Limited v. Astt. Registrar of Joint Stock Companies Madurai AIR 1938 Mad. 640, the annual general meeting of a company called in December 1934 was adjourned and held in March 1935. The next annual general meeting was held in January, 1936, no other meting being held in 1935. The company was prosecuted for failure to call the annual general meeting in 1935. It was held that there should be one meeting per year and as many meetings as there are years.

The Registrar can, for any special reason, extend the time within which any annual general meeting is required to be held by a period not exceeding 3 months but the time for holding the first annual general meeting cannot be so extended. [Sec. 166(1)]

Power to convene an annual general meeting

The proper authority to convene an annual general meeting is the Board of Directors, and if the managing director, manager, secretary or other officer calls a meting without such authority, it will not be effectual unless the Board ratifies the act before the meeting is held.

Notice

A public company must give at least 21 days notice for convening any general meeting including annual general meeting. Annual general meeting may be called after giving a shorter notice than 21 days if it is so agreed by all the members entitled to vote in the meeting (Section 171). In calculating 21 days, the date on which the notice is served and the day of the meeting are excluded.

Date, time and place of holding the annual general meeting

Every annual general meeting shall be called at any time during the business hours, on a day that is not a public holiday. It shall be held either at the registered office of the company or at some other place within the city, town or village in which the registered office of the company is situated [Section 166(2)]. The Central Government may exempt any class of companies from the provisions of Sec. 166 subject to such conditions as it may impose.

(a) A public company or a private company which is a subsidiary of a public company, may by its Articles fix the time for its annual general meetings and may also by a resolution passed in preceding annual general meeting fix the time for its subsequent annual general meetings and

(b) A private company which is not a subsidiary of a public company may in like manner and also by a resolution agreed to by all the members thereof, fix the time as well as the place for its annual general meetings [Sec. 166(2)]

Adjournment

Where an annual general meeting is held but adjourned, the adjourned meeting is nothing but continuance of the earlier meeting and therefore if in the adjourned meeting the Balance Sheet and the Profit and Loss Account of the company are laid and adopted and thereafter sent to the Registrar, Section 220(I) is not violated.

Holding of annual general meeting where the annual accounts are not ready

According to Central Government instructions, in case the annual accounts are not ready for laying at the appropriate annual general meeting, the company must hold the annual general meeting within the time limit, transact all business other than the consideration of the accounts, announce when the accounts are expected to be ready for laying and pass a suitable resolution adjourning the said annual general meeting to a specific date or to a date to be specified later on. Thus the company cannot take the plea that the annual general meeting was not held because the accounts were not ready.

Power of Central Government to call annual general meeting

The Central Government may, on the application of any member of the company, call or direct the calling of a general meeting of the company. However, it is to be noted that the Court has no power to call such meeting. A general meeting held in pursuance of this order will be deemed to be an annual general meeting of the company. The Central Government may direct that only one member of the company present in person or by proxy shall be deemed to constitute a meeting. [Section 167]

Penalty

If a default is made in holding an annual general meeting in accordance with the above provisions or in complying with the directions given by the Central Government, the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be punishable with fine which may extend to Rs. 5000 and in the case of a continuing default, with a further fine which may extend to Rs. 250 for every day after the first during which the default continues. (Section 168)

Importance

It is the annual general meeting at which the shareholders can exercise control over the affairs of the company. At this meeting some directors retire and come up for re-election and thereby the shareholders find an opportunity to refuse to re-elect a director of whose action and policy they disapprove. Appointment of auditors is also made at this meeting.

Annual accounts are presented at this meeting for the consideration of the shareholders and the shareholders can ask any question relating to the account. It is at this meeting that dividends are declared. At this meeting the shareholders can discuss any other matters relating to the company's business.

Extra Ordinary General Meeting

Regulation 47 of the Table A provides that all general meetings other than annual general meetings shall be called extraordinary general meetings. An extraordinary general meeting is called to consider those transactions or business which cannot be postponed till the next annual general meeting. Hence, it is a meeting of a company which is held between two consecutive annual general meetings for transacting some urgent or special business. An extraordinary general meeting may be convened :

1. By the Board of Directors on its own or on the resolution of members; or
2. By the requisitionists themselves on the failure of the Board to call the meeting ; or
3. By the Central Government.

1.    Extraordinary meeting convened by the Board of Directors 

(A) On its own

Regulation 48(1) of Table A provides that the board may, whenever it thinks fit, call an extraordinary general meeting. An extraordinary general meeting may be convened by the Board of Directors if some business of special importance requires the approval of the members and which in the opinion of the Board of Directors can not be postponed till the next annual general meeting. The directors can call an extraordinary general meeting by passing a resolution in a properly convened board meeting or by a circular resolution. Regulation 48(2) of Table A provides that "If at any time, they are not present within India, the number of directors capable of acting and forming a quorum, any director or any two members of the company may call an extraordinary general meeting in the same manner, as nearly as possible, as that in which such a meeting may be called by the Board”.

(B) On the requisition of members

The directors are bound to call an extraordinary general meeting of the company if the requisition is made :

(i) in the case of a company having a share capital, by the holders of at least one-tenth paid up capital having the right to vote on the matter of requisition ; or

(ii) in the case of a company not having a share capital, by members representing not less than one-tenth of the total voting power in regard to the matter of requisition.

The Board of Directors is under a legal obligation to proceed within 21 days of the deposit of the requisition to call a meeting. The meeting shall be held within 45 days of such deposit of the requisition with the company [Sec. 169(6)]. On receipt of the requisition, the Board shall send out notices for the meeting giving not less that 21 days' time.

3. Extraordinary meeting covered by the Central Government

If due to any reason it is impracticable to call or conduct an extraordinary general meeting, the Central Government may, either on its own or on the application of any director or any member who would be entitled to vote, order a meeting to be called, held and conducted in such manner as the Central Government thinks fit and may give such directions as it thinks expedient, including a direction that one member present in person or by proxy shall be deemed to constitute a meeting.

Any meeting called, held and conducted in accordance with any such order of the Central Government will, for all purposes, be deemed to be a meeting of the company duly called, held and conducted.

The word 'impracticable' may be taken to mean impossible to hold a peaceful or useful meeting. It has been held that the word 'impracticable' should be taken to mean impractical from a reasonable point of view.

In Opera Photographic Ltd. Re; 1989 BCL [763 (1989)] case, there were only two directors and one of them who was holding 51% of the shares wanted to remove his fellow director. The Articles required the quorum of two. The fellow director did not attend the meeting to frustrate him. The Central Government ordered a meeting to be called with the presence of one as a sufficient quorum.

Class Meetings

Class meetings are the meetings of the shareholders and the creditors. Class meetings are held to pass resolutions which will bind only the members of the particular class concerned. According to regulation 3(1), if the rights attached to any class of shares are to be varied, it can be done with the consent of the holders of 3/4 of the issued shares of that class in a separate meeting of that class of holders. Similarly, under Sec. 394, where a scheme of arrangement or compromise is proposed, the meetings of several classes of shareholders and creditors are required to be held. Class meetings can only be attended by the members of that class. Whenever it is necessary to alter or change the rights or privileges of a class as provided by the Articles, a class meeting must be called.

Procedure for Convening and Conduct of General Meetings :

The business at a meeting is said to have been “validly transacted” if the members of the organisation or body concerned, whether or not they were present, are bound by the decision made there at. They cannot be so bound unless the meeting is validly held. The essentials of a valid meeting are that the meeting should be:

(a) Properly convened:, i.e. a proper notice must be sent by the proper authority to every person entitled to attend.

(b) Properly constituted, i.e. the proper person must be in the chair, the rules as to quorum must be observed, and the regulations governing the meeting must be complied with.

(c) Properly conducted, i.e. the chairman must conduct the proceeding in accordance with the law relating to general meetings as per the Companies Act (Sections 101 to 109 of the Companies Act, 2013), the Company’s own Articles of Association or, in respect of any specific matter, by the common law relating to meetings.