The person so appointed can act as an additional director up to the date of next annual general meeting. This provision is not meant to enable the company to keep on its Board a person as additional director for an indefinite period of time by not holding the annual general meeting. Section 260, therefore, must necessarily be read with section 166 which stipulates that the annual general meeting be held every year and not more than 15 months shall elapse between the date of one AGM and the next. [P. Natarajan v Central Government (2004) 60 CLA 274 (Mad)].
It is open to the Board of directors to appoint additional director if power has been conferred on the Board by the Articles of Association, irrespective of the provisions of section 255, 258, & 259 of the Companies Act. The additional director so co-opted shall hold office only upto the date of the next AGM. The co-option of an additional director in terms of the first proviso to section 260 ceases unless re-appointed on the last day of the next AGM that should have been held. The word 'shall hold office only upto the date of next AGM' mean that such director shall hold office upto the last date on which the next AGM should have been held and not the actual holding of that meeting if it is beyond the statutory period for holding of such meeting. [Dushyant D. Anjaria v Wall Street Finance Ltd. (2001) 105 Comp Cas 655 (Bom)].
03 September 2023
There was no proposal to regularize a person as a director at the AGM who was appointed as an additional director by the board of directors. Can such person be re-appointed as an Additional Director by the Board?
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