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
