女性取締役の選任を怠った上場企業に対し、RoCが罰金を科す

In the case of 

M/s S. S. Forgings and Engineering Limited

M/s S S Forgings and Engineering Limited (“The Company”) is having a registered office in the state of Maharashtra. The Company is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. As per Section 149 read with Rule 3(i) of the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014, the Company is required to appoint a woman director. However, the company failed to appoint any women director in the company.

As per Rule 3(i), the Women director is to be appointed within 6 months for newly incorporated companies. Further, any intermittent vacancy shall be filled up by the board at the earliest but no later than the immediate next Board meeting or three months from the date of such vacancy, whichever is later. However, in the given case, the company does not fall under any of these categories. Therefore, through a harmonious reading, a period of 3 months was granted to the company from the beginning of the Financial Year.

Accordingly, a penalty is imposed on the company of INR 1.85 Lacs and INR 1 Lac on the Managing Director for non-compliance with Section 149 of the Companies Act, 2013.

Article:

1. Brief Facts of the case:

• M/s S. S. Forgings and Engineering Limited (“The Company”) has a registered office in the state of Maharashtra.

• As per the Financial statements of the company, the following are particulars:
  • Paid Up share Capital: INR 7.80 Crores
  • Turnover: INR 5.96 Lakhs

• The Company is a listed Company on the Bombay Stock Exchange. 

• Being a Listed Company, the company is mandatorily required to appoint a Woman Director as per Rule 3(i) of the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014.

• However, the company failed to appoint any women directors. Accordingly, a Show Cause notice was issued to the company, which remained unanswered.

Read Also: RoC Imposed Huge Penalties for Failure to Furnish Copy of Resolution with the RoC in form MGT-14

2. 関連する法的抜粋

Relevant extracts of Company law are reiterated below for ready reference:

• Provisions related to the appointment of women directors in the company are given under Section 149 of the Companies Act read with Rule 3 of the Companies (Appointment and qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014.

• Section 149:

“(1) Every company shall have a Board of Directors consisting of individual as directors and shall have-

(a) A minimum number of three directors in the case of a public company, two directors in the case of a private company, and one director in the case of a One Person Company; and

(b) A maximum of fifteen directors:

Provided that a company may appoint more than fifteen directors after passing a special resolution:

Provided further that such class or classes of companies as may be prescribed shall have at least one woman director.

• Rule 3 of the Companies (Appointment and qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014:

“The following class of companies shall appoint at least one-woman director-

(i) すべての上場会社

(ii) 次のいずれかに該当するその他のすべての公開会社

(a) 払込済株式資本が100億ルピー以上であること、または

(b) 売上高が300億ルピー以上であること

ただし、会社法に基づいて設立され、第149条第(1)項の第2但書の規定が適用される会社は、設立日から6か月以内に当該規定を遵守しなければならない。

さらに、女性取締役の欠員が生じた場合、その欠員は

取締役会によって速やかに補充されなければならない。ただし、その期限は次回の取締役会開催日、または

欠員が生じた日から3か月後のいずれか遅い方とする。

説明：本規則において、払込済株式

資本または売上高は、直近の監査済み$財務諸表の

最終日時点の数値を用いるものとする。

3. 会社登記官（RoC）による分析および認定

会社登記官は以下の通り認定した：

• 当該会社はボンベイ証券取引所に上場している。上場会社であるため、会社（取締役の選任および資格）規則2014年第3条(i)に基づき、女性取締役を選任する義務がある。

• MCAデータベースによると、当該会社は現在に至るまで女性取締役を一人も選任していない。

• ここで判断すべき問題は、不履行期間を2022年4月1日から開始すべきか、あるいは適切な候補者を見つけるための猶予期間を会社に与えるべきかという点である。

• 規則3に基づき、新規設立会社は6か月以内に女性取締役を選任しなければならない。また、欠員が生じた場合は、取締役会が速やかに、かつ次回の取締役会開催日または欠員発生から3か月後のいずれか遅い方までに補充しなければならない。

• 本件は、いずれのカテゴリーにも該当しない。したがって、法規定の調和的解釈に基づき、適切な候補者を選任し法令を遵守するために、会計年度の開始から3か月間の猶予期間を会社に与えるものとする。

• したがって、本件における不履行期間は、不履行が生じた会計年度の7月1日から起算するものとする。

4. Order

会社登記官は次のように裁定した：

• The penalty shall be imposed on the company for non-compliance with the provisions of Section 149 of the Companies Act.

• Accordingly, the following penalty is imposed on the Company:

結論：

Considering the stringent actions being taken by the RoC and the huge penalties being imposed on the company, it is mandatory for the companies to comply with provisions without any failure. RoC is imposing penalties on multiple companies on a regular basis for even a minor default.