Financial Statements to be signed by ‘Suspended’ Board: Duties are not suspended

  • Blog|News|Company Law|
  • 2 Min Read
  • By Taxmann
  • |
  • Last Updated on 27 April, 2022

Financial Statements;

[2022] 137 taxmann.com 384 (Article)

Suspended Board appealed against the order of NCLT and challenged the direction of cooperating and singing the financial statements. The article attempts to dissect the judgement of NCLAT in the matter of Mukund Choudhary v. Subhash Kumar Kundra (Resolution Professional for CLC Industries Ltd.) [Company Appeal (AT) (Insolvency) NO. 452 of 2021, dated 18-4-2022] which has clarified the aspect of signing and also the filing of the financial statements.

The arguments by the appellant that they are not liable to sign the financial statements. Further, they argued that they were not required to sign in lieu of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs circular dated 06.03.2020.

The relevant excerpt of the MCA Circular is :

(iii) The IRP/RP/Liquidator shall be responsible for filing all the eforms in the MCA portal and sign the form in the capacity of CEO in order to meet filing protocol in the existing forms architecture. However, this shall in no way affect his legal status as IRP/RP/Liquidator. All filings of e forms including AOC-4 and MGT-7 shall be filed through e-form GNL-2 by way of attachments till the company is under CIRP. In the existing field no.3 of form no.GNL-2, IRP/RP/Liquidator will choose radio button “Filings under IBC”.

The respondent argued that the filings of the company shall be done by Resolution professional but the signature shall be of the directors since there is no provision that the duties are suspended.The respondent argued that the filings of the company shall be done by Resolution professional but the signature shall be of the directors since there is no provision that the duties are suspended.

NCLAT agreed with the views of NCLT and held that the financial statements are to be signed by the directors and they continue to be duty bound to do the same. There is no provision for denying the same and the MCA circular is only for the purpose of filing of forms with ROC and the same cannot be interpreted to disown the duty. The liability to sign the financials lies with the directors.

This judgement brings out the clarity on the aspect of signing the financial statements and clears the aspect of preparation, signing and filing of the same.

Click Here To Read The Complete Article

Disclaimer: The content/information published on the website is only for general information of the user and shall not be construed as legal advice. While the Taxmann has exercised reasonable efforts to ensure the veracity of information/content published, Taxmann shall be under no liability in any manner whatsoever for incorrect information, if any.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Everything on Tax and Corporate Laws of India

To subscribe to our weekly newsletter please log in/register on Taxmann.com

Author: Taxmann

Taxmann Publications has a dedicated in-house Research & Editorial Team. This team consists of a team of Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, and Lawyers. This team works under the guidance and supervision of editor-in-chief Mr Rakesh Bhargava.

The Research and Editorial Team is responsible for developing reliable and accurate content for the readers. The team follows the six-sigma approach to achieve the benchmark of zero error in its publications and research platforms. The team ensures that the following publication guidelines are thoroughly followed while developing the content:

  • The statutory material is obtained only from the authorized and reliable sources
  • All the latest developments in the judicial and legislative fields are covered
  • Prepare the analytical write-ups on current, controversial, and important issues to help the readers to understand the concept and its implications
  • Every content published by Taxmann is complete, accurate and lucid
  • All evidence-based statements are supported with proper reference to Section, Circular No., Notification No. or citations
  • The golden rules of grammar, style and consistency are thoroughly followed
  • Font and size that's easy to read and remain consistent across all imprint and digital publications are applied