Thursday, April 19, 2007

To Act As Company Secretary.

Companies (Appointment and Qualifications of Secretary) Rules, 1988
In exercise of the powers conferred by clauses (a) and (b) of section 642 read with clause
(45) of section 2 and section 383A of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), and in
supersession of the Companies (Secretary's Qualifications) Rules, 1975, the Central
Government hereby makes the following Rules, namely :
1. Short title and commencement -
(1) These rules may be called the Companies (Appointment and Qualifications of
Secretary) Rules, 1988.
(2) It shall come into force on the 1st day of December, 1988.
2. Appointment, etc., of whole-time secretary -
(1) Every company having a paid-up share capital of not less than rupees fifty lakhs
shall have a whole-time secretary.
(2) No person shall be appointed as whole-time secretary under sub-rule (1) unless
he is a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India constituted under the
Company Secretaries Act, 1980 (56 of 1980).
(3) A company having a paid-up share capital of less than rupees fifty lakhs may
appoint any individual as its whole-time secretary to perform the duties of a
secretary under the Companies Act, 1956, and any other ministerial or administrative
duties :
Provided that no individual shall be eligible to be so appointed unless he possesses one or
more of the qualifications specified in sub-rule (4).
(4) No individual shall be appointed as secretary pursuant to sub-rule (3) unless he
possesses any one or more of the following qualifications, namely :-
(i) membership of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India constituted
under the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 (56 of 1980) ;
(ii) pass in the Intermediate examination conducted either by the Institute of
Company Secretaries of India constituted under the Company Secretaries Act,
1980 (No. 56 of 1980), or by the earlier Institute of Company Secretaries of
India incorporated on 4th October, 1968, under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of
1956), and licensed under section 25 of that Act ;
(iii) Post-graduate degree in commerce or corporate secretary ship granted by
any university in India ;
(iv) degree in law granted by any university ;
(v) membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India constituted
under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (38 of 1949) ;
(vi) membership of the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India
constituted under the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959 (23 of 1959) ;
(vii) post-graduate degree or diploma in management sciences, granted by any
university, or the Institutes of Management, Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Bangalore
or Lucknow ;
(viii) post-graduate diploma in company secretary ship granted by the Institute
of Commercial Practice under the Delhi Administration or Diploma in
Corporate Laws and Management granted by the Indian Law Institute, New
Delhi ;
(ix) post-graduate diploma in company law and secretarial practice granted by
the University of Udaipur; or
(x) membership of the Association of Secretaries and Managers, Calcutta,
registered under the West Bengal Registration of Societies Act, 1961 (XXVI of
1961) :
Provided that where the paid-up share capital of such company is increased to rupees
twenty-five lakhs or more, the company shall, within a period of one year from the date
of such increase, comply with the provisions of sub-rules (1) and (2) of rule 2.
Explanation - In this rule, "University" has the meaning assigned to it in the University
Grants Commission Act, 1956 (No. 3 of 1956), and includes any university outside India
which is recognised by the Union Public Service Commission for the purposes of
recruitment to public services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of
any State.
3. Provisions relating to existing secretaries -
Notwithstanding contained in sub-rules (1) and (2) of rule 2, the qualifications
possessed by a person holding the office of whole-time secretary of a company
immediately before 30th October, 1980, in terms of the second proviso to clause (a)
of rule 2 of the Companies (Secretaries Qualifications) Rules, 1975, shall be
deemed to be the qualifications which he shall be required to possess in order to be
eligible to continue as whole-time secretary in that company.