Certificate of Incorporation

The Certificate of Incorporation is actually a Simple Doucment which contains the date of registration ,Name of the company incorporated and also where the company was incorporated.The Registrar of Companies in India  is the responsible for issuing the Certificate of Incorporation to Companies.Usually it takes about 2-3 days after submitting the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company along with the other documents required for incorporation  with the Registrar of Companies .If the Registrar of Companies  satisfy that the submitted documents has Complied  with the procedures and provisions under the Companies Act,1956 and other Statutory Legislations for the time being in force, then the Registrar of  Companies will issue the Certiifcate of Incorporation.After issuing of Certificate of Incorporation only, the Company will be considered as Legal Entity and  register itself with the other statutory authorities according to the nature of business.Without the Certificate of Incorporation, A  company could not able to open a Bank Account and register with VAT, PAN(Permanent Account Number) & TAN (Tax Account Number) for deducting TDS.For applying of the above facilities, a company should handover the copy of Certificate of Incorporation with the concerned authorities.(e.g. for applying of Importer-Exporter Code,Service Tax ,Central Excise & Customs Act , Copy of Certificate of Incorporation is mandatory).

As per Section 35 of the Companies Act,1956 "A Certificate of Incorporation given by the Registrar in respect of any association shall be conclusive evidence that all the requirements of this Act have been complied with in respect of registration and matters precedent and incidental thereto, and that the association is a company authorised to be registered and duly registered under this act.".

When ever company changes the name of the company during the course of the business  and company has shifted its registered office from one state to other state then Registrar of the companies will issue fresh Certificate of Incorporation with effect to the changes.

So the Certificate of Incorporation is the primary document of the Company and it is very essential to keep safe and preserve it permanently.

When to conduct the Annual General Meeting

As per Section 166 of the Companies Act,1956 Every Company, which is Public or Private, limited by Shares or Guarantee, with or without share capital or Unlimited Company is required to be conduct Annual General Meeting once a year.Every Company must in each year hold an Annual General Meeting not more than fifteen months from the date of Last  annual general meeting of a company.No  approval from regulatory authority is required for hold such Meeting.

As per Section 210 (3) (b) of the Companies Act,1956  everry company is required to hold its subsequent Annual General Meeting within six months from the end of the Financial year.

While reading Sections 166 and 210(3)(b) of the Companies Act,1956 there seems to be some contradictions between the provisions.If the Company follows section 166 and conducts Annual General Meeting within 15 months from the end of the Last Annual General Meeting( taking into consideration of Three Months extended time  given by Registrar of Companies),there could be non-compliance of Section 210(3)(b), for not holding the Annual General Meeting within Six Months from the end of the Financial year.

To overcome the non-compliance situation, the Department of Company Affairs (Now Ministry of Corporate Affairs) has advised that the Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held earlier of the following dates : vide its Circular No.8/45(166)64-PR dated 12-01-1965:

-Six Months from the date of Close of the Financial year.(Section 210(3)(b)

-Within 15 Months from the Last Annual General Meeting.(Section 166(1)

- Last Date of Next Financial year.

Therefore in my opinion, a company can convene a Annual General Meeting within the Periods advised by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to avoid the Penalty and Contravention of the Sections 166 and 210 of the Companies Act,1956.

Appointment of First Auditors

Appointment of Auditors in a company is a vital part in the running of a company. Without Auditors, we could not able to get our accounts audited and filed with Registrar of companies as per the compliance of Section 220 of the Companies Act,1956.

O.K.Let's move to our topic.

As per Section 224(5), the first Auditor or Auditors of a company shall be appointed by the Board of Directors by passing a Board resolution within one month of the date of Incorporation of the Company; and the auditor or auditors so appointed shall hold office until the conclusion of the First Annual General Meeting.

If the Board of Directors fail to appoint the Auditors within one month,they have to appoint the Auditors in the company General Meeting.There is notneed to file Form 23B for the appointemnt of First Auditor.

The Appointed First Auditor shall not suffer any disqualifications Covered U/s.226(3) of the Companies Act,1956  and the Auditor or Auditors so appointed shall hold office until the conclusion of the First Annual General Meeting.

ALTERNATE DIRECTOR

The Board of Directors of a company may, if so authorized by its articles or by a resolution passed by the Company in general meeting,appoint an alternate director, in accordance with Section 313 of the Companies Act,1956 to act for a director during his absence for  a period of not less than three months from the state in which meetings of the Board are ordinarily held.

An alternate Director occupies the position of director and even though he is called an alternate director, he is a director and performs same duties and is subject to the same liabilities as of any director.However, in calculating for the purposes of number of companies in which he is a director, a company in which he is an alternate director shall not be included as per section 278(1)(d).An Alternate Director may be appointed as a Managing Director or Whole -Time Director.

An alternate Director shall not hold office as such for a period longer than that 'permissible' to the original director in whose place he has been appointed and shall vacate office as and when the original director returns to the state in which meetings of the Board are ordinarily held as per Section 313(2) of the Companies Act,1956.

If an alternate Director  appointed as Managing or Whole Time Director of the Company, he has to be  regularized  as Director by the shareholders in the General Meeting and then only his appointment of Managing or Whole-Time Director will be valid and otherwise his appointment  will be void.