SEVARAM PASARI Vs. REGISTRAR OF COMPANIES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE four petitions were heard together and are disposed of in one judgment.

(2.) THERE is a private company named Sambalpur Transport and Trading Company (Private) Ltd. at Bargarh of which one Sevaram Pansari (Petitioner in Criminal revisions 325 and 326 of 1962) is the Managing Director and Ganpatram Pansari and Khemchand Agarwalla are the Directors. It has been held as a fact that for the two financial years ending on 31-10-58 and 31-10-59 no General meeting of the company was held (either during that year or within 9 months thereafter ). This amounts to contravention of Section 166 of the Companies Act 1956 which is punishable under Section 168 of that Act. Similarly it has been found as a fact that the balancesheet and the Profit and Loss Accounts of the Company for the said two years were not laid before the annual general meeting as required by Subsection (1) of Section 210 of that Act. This amounts to an offence punishable under Sub-section (5) of that Section.

(3.) FOR the offence under Section 168 of the Companies Act, the aforesaid firm and its Directors (including the Managing Director) were prosecuted and fined Rs. 100/- each, and their appeal was dismissed. Criminal Revisions 527 and 528 of 1962 arise out of this conviction and sentence. So far as these two revisions are concerned Mr. Mohanty pressed them only on the question of sentence, but in my opinion the fine of Rs. 100/- is not excessive and does not call interference.