In the recent order of adjudication passed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs ( MCA ) Registrar of Companies, a penalty was imposed on a private limited company and its directors for not filing financial statements for 5 consecutive years. This private company has been registered under the Companies Act, 2013, and the authorized capital of the company is Rs. 20 lakhs. During the inquiry, it was found that the company has not filed its financial statement for 5 consecutive years, and thus the adjudicating officer reached the conclusion that the company and its directors have violated Section 137 of the Companies Act.

The adjudicating authority, by looking into the facts of the present case, imposed a penalty as per Section 137(3) of the Companies Act, 2013 for the years ended 3 1.3.2017 to 31.03.2021 on the company and each director under Section 137(3) of the Companies Act, 2013 for failure to comply with Section 137 of the Companies Act, 2013.

Transform GST Compliance with Expert Drafting Skills – Click here to Register Section 137(1) of the Companies Act, 2013 provides that: “A copy of the financial statements, including consolidated financial statement, if any, along with all the documents which are required to be or attached to such financial statements under this Act, duly adopted at the annual general meeting of the company, shall be filed with the Registrar within thirty days of the date of the annual general meeting in such manner, with such fees or additional fees as may be prescribed.

“ The penalty imposed has been clearly given in the table in the order. This order was issued by Seema Rath, Registrar of Companies & Adjudicating Officer Uttar Pradesh, Kanpur.