COMPANY AND PRACTISING COMPANY SECRETARY WAS FINED FOR FILING E-FORM STATING SECRETARIAL AUDIT IS NOT APPLICABLE IN THE AOC-4 FORM

 COMPANY AND PRACTISING COMPANY SECRETARY WAS FINED FOR FILING E-FORM STATING SECRETARIAL AUDIT IS NOT APPLICABLE IN THE AOC-4 FORM

SLICE SMALL FINANCE BANK LIMITED VS ROC, GWAUHATI

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

AOC-4

In the Annual Filing (AOC-4) for the Financial Year 2016–17, Slice Small Finance Bank Limited was required to indicate whether secretarial audit was applicable for that period.

Form MR-3

In the e-form, the company mistakenly selected “NO” for the field “Whether secretarial audit is applicable”, even though the Secretarial Audit Report (Form MR-3) was actually prepared and attached both with the Board’s Report and the AOC-4 filing.

MAKING A FALSE STATEMENT IN A STATUTORY FILING (E-FORM):

THE DEFAULT:

By ticking "Not Applicable" for the Secretarial Audit requirement in a statutory e-form (like MGT-7/MGT-7A - Annual Return) or in AOC-4 when it was actually mandatory, the Company Secretary and other certifying professionals are deemed to have made a false statement or filed an incorrect return.

PENAL PROVISION:

This attracts penalties under Section 448 (Punishment for false statement) read with Section 447 (Punishment for fraud), or Section 204(4) for contravention of the Secretarial Audit provisions.

PENALTY IMPOSED

·      ₹10,000 penalty on the Company

·      ₹10,000 on the Managing Director

·      ₹10,000 on the Company Secretary (Practising CS)

KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR PROFESSIONALS

✔ Every tick/selection in MCA e-forms must accurately reflect the underlying facts, not just the attachments submitted.

R V SECKAR, FCS, LLB 79047 19295