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Doctrine of Ultra Vires

A company has the power to do all such things as

are :-

a. Authorized to be done by the companies act,

1956

b. Essential to the attainment of its objectsspecified in the memorandum

c. Reasonably and fairly incidental to its objects

every thing else is ultra vires the company.

Ultra vires means the doing of the act isbeyond the legal power and authority of the

company.

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Ashbury Rly Carriages & Iron Co. Ltd. v/s

Riche

A company was incorporated with the following objectivesviz:

1. to make, sell, or lend on hire railway carriages andwagons,

2. to carry on the business of mechanical engineers andgeneral contractors

3. to purchase, lease, work and sell mines, minerals, landand buildings.

The company entered into a contract with Riche for the

financing of the construction of a railway line in Belgium. The House of Lords held that the contract was Ultra Vires

the company and void .

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Structures and processes for corporate

GovernanceRationale for Corporate Governance: Corporates are continuously entering into and bringing new activities into the fold

of the Indian economy.

In doing so, they were emerging internationally as efficient providers of a widerange of goods and services while increasing employment opportunities at home.

At the same time, the increasing number of options and avenues for international

business, trade and capital flows had imposed a requirement not only for

harnessing entrepreneurial and economic resources efficiently but also

to be competitive in attracting investment for growth.

These developments necessitated modernization of the regulatory structure

for the corporate sector in a comprehensive manner.

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Corporate governance processes in

Company law Amendment Bill of 2008

The Companies Bill, 2008 seeks to enable the

corporate sector in

India to operate in a regulatory environmentof best international

practices that fosters entrepreneurship,

investment and growth and

provides for :-

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1. (i) The basic principles of all aspects ofinternalgovernance

of corporate entities and a framework for their

regulation, irrespective of their area of operation, from

incorporation to

liquidation and winding up, in a single,

comprehensive, legal framework administered by the Central

Government.

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(ii) Articulation ofshareholders democracy with

protection of the rights of minority

stakeholders,

responsible self-regulation with disclosures and

accountability, substitution of government

control over

internal corporate processes and decisions by

shareholder control.

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(iii) Easy transition of companies operating

under the

Companies Act, 1956, to the new frameworkas also from one

type of company to another.

iv) A new entity in the form of One-PersonCompany

(OPC)

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No restriction

proposed on the number of subsidiary

companies that a company may have, subject to disclosure in

respect of their

relationship and transactions/dealingsbetween them.

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(v) Application of the successful e-Governance initiative ofthe

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA-21) to all the processes

involved in meeting compliance obligations. Company

processes, also to be enabled to be carried out through electronic

mode.

The proposed e-Governance regime is intended to providefor

ease of operation for filing and access to corporate dataover the

internet to all stakeholders, on round the clock basis.

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(vi) Speedy incorporation process, with detaileddeclarations/

disclosures about the promoters, directors etc. at thetime of

incorporation itself. Every company director would berequired to

acquire a unique Directors identification number.

(vii) Facilitates joint ventures and relaxes restrictions

limiting the number of partners in entities such as partnership firms, banking companies etc. to a

maximum 100

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(viii) Duties and liabilities of the directors and for every

company to have at least one director resident in India.The Bill

also provides for independent directors to beappointed on the

Boards of such companies as may be prescribed, Therequirement to

appoint independent directors, where applicable, is aminimum

of 33% of the total number of directors.

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(ix) Statutory recognition to audit,remuneration and

stakeholders grievances committees of theBoard and recognizes

the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the ChiefFinancial Officer

(CFO) and the Company Secretary as KeyManagerial Personnel

(KMP).

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(x) Companies not to be allowed to raise

deposits from the

public except on the basis of permissionavailable to them

through other Special Acts. The Bill recognizes

insider trading by

company directors/KMPs as an offence with

criminal liability.

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(xi) Recognition of both accounting and auditing

standards. The role, rights and duties of theauditors defined as

to maintain integrity and independence of theaudit process.

Consolidation of financial statements ofsubsidiaries with those

of holding companies is proposed to be mademandatory.

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(xii) A single forum for approval of mergers

and acquisitions,

xiii)A

separate framework for enabling fairvaluations in

companies for various purposes. Appointment

of valuers is

proposed to be made by audit committees.

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(xiv) Claim of an investor over a dividend or a

security not

claimed for more than a period of seven yearsnot being

extinguished, and Investor Education and

Protection Fund (IEPF)

to be administered by a statutory Authority.

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(xv) Shareholders Associations/Group of

Shareholders to be

enabled to take legal action in case of anyfraudulent action on

the part of company and to take part in

investor protection

activities and Class Action Suits

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(xvi) A revised framework for regulation ofinsolvency,

including rehabilitation, winding up of companies

with the process to be completed in a timebound manner.

Incorporates international best practices basedon the models

suggested by the United Nations Commission onInternational Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

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(xvii) Consolidation of fora for dealing with

rehabilitation of

companies, their liquidation and winding up inthe single forum

ofNational Company Law Tribunal with appeal

to National

Company Law Appellate Tribunal

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(xviii) A more effective regime for inspections

and

investigations of companies while laying downthe maximum

as well as minimum quantum of penalty for

each offence

with suitable deterrence for repeat offences

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(xix) Levy of additional fee in a non-discretionarymanner for

procedural offences, such as late filing of statutorydocuments,

to be enabled through rules. Defaults of proceduralnature to be

penalized by levy of monetary penalties by theRegistrars of

Companies. The appeals against such orders ofRegistrars of

Companies to lie with suitably designated higherauthorities.

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(xx) Special Courts to deal with offences under the Bill.

Company matters such as mergers and amalgamations,

reduction of capital, insolvency including rehabilitation,

liquidations and winding up are proposed to beaddressed by the

National Company Law Tribunal/ National CompanyLaw

Appellate Tribunal.

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Fiduciary duties of directors

Board meeting video conferencing

Setting up special courts outside India

Adjudication of proceedings