Place for holding an annual general meeting Section 166(2) of the Companies Act, provides that the annual general meeting shall be held at the registered office or at some other place within the city, town or village where the registered office of the company is situated. Due to rapid urbanisation the municipal limits of certain cities and towns tend to be extended and in that case the municipal limits, which are followed under the Companies Act and the postal limits may not coincide. The DCA have recognised this contingency and have advised vide Circular Letter No. 1/1/80-CL.V and No. 6/159/PT/64, dated 16-2-1981 that a company can hold its annual general meeting within the postal limits of the city in which the registered office is situated if it is more convenient to its shareholders.
19 December 2012
Annual General Meeting cannot be held on a public holiday:
Section 166(2) inter alia states that every annual general meeting shall be called on a day, which is not a public holiday. It has been clarified by the Department vide Circular F. No. 8/23/(166)/69-CL-V that section 166 of the Companies Act deals with the actual period during which the annual general meeting is to be held. Sub-section (2) states that every annual general meeting shall be held on a day that is not a public holiday and this provision is mandatory. If the provision of section 166(2) are to be considered as 'merely regulatory' as suggested "shall be called" used in the section will ceased to have any meaning.
According to section 2(38) of the Companies Act, 1956 'public holiday' means a public holiday within the meaning of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. Further, proviso to section 2(38) enacts that a day declared to be a public holiday by the Central Government shall not be a public holiday in relation to any meeting provided the declaration of holiday was notified after the issue of notice of convening such meeting. Provided that the holiday declared by banks for closure of half yearly accounts under the Negotiable Instruments Act, shall not be considered as a public holiday for the purpose of holding an annual general meeting.
19 December 2012
Adjourned annual general meeting may be held on a public holiday:
The Department has vide Circular File No. 8/16(1)/61-PR stated that there is no contravention of section 166(2) if the adjourned annual general meeting comes to be accidentally held on a public holiday.
20 December 2012
Time and Place of AGM: Every company is required to hold its AGM during business hours and on a day not a public holiday and has to be held at its registered office or at a place within the limits of city, town or village where its registered office is situated. Section 25 company has been exempted from this provision. As such they are free to determine the date, place and time of its AGM according to their convenience and feasibility, the only condition being that time, place and date of such meeting should have been pre determined by the Board of Directors. (Section 166(2)).
Notice of AGM: Section 25 company has been given some relief in this regard by allowing them to hold an AGM after giving a notice of 14 days length instead of 21 days as required by section 171(1). Therefore they can call an AGM at a short notice of 14 days instead of 21 days. (Section 171(1)).