Companies Act Section 378X — Secretary of Producer Company
CHAPTER XXI
Commercial / Corporate
Summary
Sub-section (1) requires every Producer Company whose average annual turnover exceeds five crore rupees, or any other amount that may be prescribed by rules, in each of three consecutive financial years, to have a whole-time secretary.
Sub-section (2) states that no individual can be appointed as a whole-time secretary unless that person is a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, which is constituted under the Company Secretaries Act, 1980.
Sub-section (3) provides that if a Producer Company fails to comply with the requirement in sub-section (1), the Company and every officer of the Company who is in default will be liable to a penalty of one hundred rupees for every day the default continues, up to a maximum of one lakh rupees. However, the proviso to this sub-section says that in any proceedings against a person for such a default, no penalty will be imposed if it is shown that all reasonable efforts were taken to comply with sub-section (1), or that the Company's financial position made it beyond its capacity to engage a whole-time secretary.
Official Text
(1) Every Producer Company having an average annual turnover exceeding five crore rupees or such other amount as may be prescribed in each of three consecutive financial years shall have a whole-time secretary.
(2) No individual shall be appointed as whole-time secretary unless he possesses membership of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India constituted under the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 (56 of 1980).
(3) If a Producer Company fails to comply with the provisions of sub-section (1), the Company and every officer of the Company who is in default, shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred rupees for every day during which the default continues subject to a maximum of rupees one lakh:
Provided that in any proceedings against a person in respect of a default under this sub-section, no penalty shall be imposed if it is shown that all reasonable efforts to comply with the provisions of sub-section (1) were taken or that the financial position of the Company was such that it was beyond its capacity to engage a whole-time secretary.