The document covers company meetings under company law, detailing the essentials for valid meetings, including quorum requirements, notice, and voting methods. It explains various types of meetings such as annual general meetings and extraordinary general meetings, and outlines the mechanisms for passing resolutions. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of maintaining minutes and adhering to secretarial standards for corporate governance.

1. Company Law and Secretarial
Practice
Unit 6 – Company Meetings

2. Topics covered under this chapter
• Meetings
• Essentials of a Valid Meeting
• Valid Quorum
• Sense of the Meeting
• Methods of Voting
• Minutes – Relevant Provisions
• Types of Company Meetings for
Directors, Statutory, AGM and
EGM
• Adjournment of Meetings
• Resolutions – Types of
Resolutions

3. Introduction to Meetings
• A meeting is generally defined as ‘’a gathering or assembly or
getting together of a number of persons for transacting any
lawful business’’.
• There must be atleast two persons to constitute a meeting.
• Therefore, one shareholder usually cannot constitute a
company meeting even if he holds proxies for other
shareholders.

4. Introduction to Meeting
• The company expresses its will or takes its decisions through
resolutions passed at validly held Meetings.
• The primary purpose of a Meeting is to ensure that a company
gives reasonable and fair opportunity to those entitled to
participate in the Meeting to take decisions as per the
prescribed procedures.
• General Meetings of the Members provide a platform to
express their will in regard to the management of the affairs
of the company.

5. Conditions/Requisites of a Valid Meeting
• Proper Authority – The proper authority to convene a general
meeting of a company is Board of Directors who should pass a
resolution to call the meeting, at a duly convened Board Meeting.
• Quorum of Meetings – The quorum is generally fixed by the Articles.
Quorum means the minimum number of members who must be
present in order to constitute a meeting and transact business. If the
quorum is not present, there is no meeting and the proceedings held
are invalid.

6. Conditions/Requisites of a Valid Meeting
• Notice of Meeting – Proper notice of the meeting should be
given to the members by giving at least 21 days notice in
writing to the members.
• Chairman of Meetings – A Chairman is necessary to conduct a
meeting.
• Minutes of Meeting – Every company must keep a record of all
proceedings of every meeting.

7. Legal Essentials for a Meeting
1. Notice – It is a legal communication about the day, date, time and venue
of the meeting. There should be 21 days clear notice to hold a meeting.
2. Agenda – It refers to the business to be transacted and the matters to be
discussed at the meeting. Usually, the agenda is built into the notice itself.
3. Quorum – It refers to the minimum number of members who must be
present at a meeting in order to constitute a valid meeting. Any meeting
without the minimum quorum is invalid.
4. Proxy – Where a member is not able to personally attend a meeting, he
can depute another person to attend the meeting on his behalf.

8. Legal Essentials for a Meeting
5. Chairman – Chairman is the head of the meeting. In his absence, the members
present in person at the meeting elect one of themselves to be the acting chairman
for the meeting.
6. Voting and Demand Poll – Matters are decided at a general meeting by a show of
hands. If the majority of the members raise their hands in favor of a particular
resolution, it is taken as passed.
7. Amendment – It means any modification to a motion before it is put to vote for
adoption. It may be proposed by any member who has not already spoken on the
main motion or has not previously moved an amendment.
8. Adjournment – It means suspending the proceedings of a meeting for the time
being so that the meeting may be continued at a later date and time fixed in that
meeting itself at the time of such adjournment or to decide later on.

9. Valid Quorum
• It refers to the minimum number of members who must be present at a meeting
in order to constitute a valid meeting. Any meeting without the minimum
quorum is invalid.
• A meeting without the minimum quorum is invalid and decisions taken at such a
meeting are not binding.
• The articles of a company may provide for a quorum without which a meeting will
be construed to be invalid.
• Usually for Public Limited Companies, One third of total strength or two directors,
whichever is higher, shall be the quorum for a meeting.
• For the purpose of determining the quorum, the participation by a director
through Video Conferencing or other audio visual means shall also be counted.

10. Valid Quorum
PublicCompany
─ 5 members personally present
if the number of members as on
the date of meeting is not more
than 1000;
─ 15 members personally
present if the number of
members as on the date of
meeting is more than 1000 but
up to 5000;
─ 30 members personally
present if the number of
members as on the date of the
meeting exceeds 5000.
PrivateCompany
─ 2 members personally
present, shall be the
quorum for a meeting of the
company.

11. Methods of Voting
• Voting by Show of Hands (Section 107) –
At any general meeting, a resolution put to the vote of the
meeting shall in the first instance be decided on a show of hands.
A declaration by the Chairman of the meeting of the passing of a
resolution or otherwise, by show of hands shall be conclusive
evidence of the fact of passing of such resolution or otherwise,
unless a poll is demanded before or immediately on declaration
by Chairman.

12. Methods of Voting
• Voting through Electronic Means (Section 108) –
Every listed company or a company having five hundred or more
shareholders may provide to its members facility to exercise their right to
vote at general meetings by electronic means.
A member may exercise his right to vote at any general meeting by
electronic means and company may pass any resolution by electronic voting
system.
It may be noted that ‘voting by electronic means’ or ‘electronic voting
system’ means a ‘secured system’ based process of display of electronic
ballots, recording of votes of the members and the number of votes polled
in favor or against, such that the entire voting exercised by way of electronic
means gets registered and counted in an electronic registry in a centralized
server with adequate ‘cyber security’.

13. Methods of Voting
• Demand for Poll (Section 109) –
Before or on the declaration of the result of the voting on any resolution
on show of hands, a poll may be ordered to be taken by the Chairman of
the meeting on his own motion and shall be ordered to be taken by him
on a demand made in that behalf.
The demand for a poll may be withdrawn at any time by the persons
who made the demand. The result of the poll shall be deemed to be the
decision of the meeting on the resolution on which the poll was taken.

14. Methods of Voting
• Postal Ballot (Section 110) –
As per section 2(65) “postal ballot” means voting by post or through any
electronic mode.
The Act provides that a company shall in respect of such items of business
as the Central Government by notification declare shall be transacted
only by postal ballot.
Rule 22 provides with regard to conducting business through postal
ballot.

15. Minutes – Relevant Provisions
• As per section 118(10) every company shall observe Secretarial Standards
with respect to General and Board Meetings specified by the Institute of
Company Secretaries of India constituted under section 3 of the Company
Secretaries Act 1980 and approved as such by the Central Government.
• Rule 25 contains provisions with regards to minutes of meetings. A distinct
minute book shall be maintained for each type of meeting namely:
(i) General meetings of the Members
(ii) Meetings of the Creditors
(iii) Meetings of the Board
(iv) Meetings of the Committees of the Board

16. Minutes – Relevant Provisions
• Minutes of proceedings of each meeting shall be entered in the books maintained
for that purpose along with the date of such entry within thirty days of the
conclusion of the meeting.
• Minute books of general meetings shall be kept at the registered office of the
company. Minutes of the Board and committee meetings shall be kept at the
registered Office or at such other place as may be approved by the Board.
• Minutes books shall be preserved permanently and kept in the custody of the
company secretary of the company or any director duly authorized by the Board
for the purpose and shall be kept in the registered office or such place as the
members may decide by passing special resolution pursuant to requirement of
section 88 read with section 94 of the Act.

17. Minutes – Relevant Provisions
• Each page of every such book shall be initialed or signed and the last page of the
record of proceedings of each meeting or each report in such books shall be dated
and signed by:
A. In the case of minutes of proceedings of a meeting of the Board or of a committee
thereof, by the chairman of the said meeting or the chairman of the next succeeding
meeting;
B. In the case of minutes of proceedings of a general meeting, by the chairman of the
same meeting within the aforesaid period of thirty days or in the event of the death
or inability of that chairman within that period, by a director duly authorized by the
Board for the purpose;
C. In case of every resolution passed by postal ballot, by the chairman of the Board
within the aforesaid period of thirty days or in the event of there being no chairman
of the Board or the death or inability of that chairman within that period, by a
director duly authorized by the Board for the purpose.

18. Types of Company Meetings
• The meetings of a company under the Companies Act, 2013 can be classified
as under:
1. Meetings of the Directors and their Committees
2. Meetings of Shareholders: (a) Annual General Meetings (AGM) (b)
Extraordinary General Meetings (EGM) (c) Class Meetings.
3. Meetings of Debenture/bond holders
4. Meetings of the Creditors otherwise than in Winding Up
5. Meeting of Creditors and Contributories in Winding Up.
6. Court Convened Meetings.

19. Types of Company Meetings
2. Meetings of Shareholders:
(a) Annual General Meetings (AGM) – It is an important annual event where
members get an opportunity to discuss the activities of the company. Section 96
provides that every company, other than a one person company is required to hold
an annual general meeting every year.
(b) Extraordinary General Meetings (EGM) – All general meetings other than annual
general meetings are called extraordinary general meetings. All business items that
can be transacted at the extraordinary general meetings are special business.
(c) Class Meetings – They are meetings which are held by holders of a particular class
of shares, example, preference shareholders. Such meetings are called when it is
proposed to change the rights of that particular class of shares.

20. Adjournment of Meetings
• Adjournment means to defer or suspend the Meeting to a future time,
either at an appointed date or indefinitely or as decided by the members
present at the scheduled Meeting. For a valid adjournment of a General
Meeting, the holding of the Meeting at its scheduled time is necessary.
• A duly convened Meeting should not be adjourned arbitrarily by the
Chairman. The Chairman may adjourn a Meeting with the consent of the
members and shall adjourn a Meeting if so decided by the members.
• The Meeting may, however, be adjourned at any time. It may be adjourned
after some items of business have been transacted and the remaining items
can be transacted at the adjourned Meeting.

21. Adjournment of Meetings
• Where a Meeting is unlawfully adjourned by the Chairman thinking that he is
not likely to succeed in his object, the remaining Members possess the right to
continue the Meeting and conduct the business left untransacted by the
Chairman.
• If a Meeting is adjourned for a period of less than thirty days, in the case of
listed companies with more than 5,000 Members. Notice thereof specifying the
day, date, time and venue of the Meeting should be published immediately in a
newspaper having a wide circulation within such States of India where more
than 1,000 Members reside.
• At an adjourned Meeting, only the unfinished business of the original Meeting
should be considered. If any new business has to be transacted, a fresh Meeting
must be duly convened.

22. Resolutions – Introduction
• A resolution is the legal form of a decision taken at a meeting and it could
be on any business or company related subject
• It is a corporate action, sometimes in the form of a legal document that
will be voted on or has been voted on at a meeting of the board of
directors for a corporation
• Individuals act on behalf of the corporation by passing resolutions
• It is one of the important means or mediums for taking critical decisions
at a company

23. Types of Resolutions
1. Members Resolutions
• Sec 282 – Ordinary Resolutions – Resolution passed by a simple
majority of the members of the company. A written resolution is passed
by the simple majority of the total voting rights of eligible members of
the company.
• Sec 283 – Special Resolutions – Resolution passed by a majority of not
less than 75% of the total voting rights of eligible members of the
company. It is passed as special resolution as it is for a specific reason
and purpose suggested by members of the company.

24. Types of Resolutions
2. Directors Resolutions
• Collective Decision making – A general rule about decision making by
directors is that any decision of the directors must be a majority
decision at a meeting.
• Unanimous Decision making – A decision of the directors is taken in
accordance with its articles when all eligible directors indicate to each
other by any means that they share a common view on a matter. It may
take the form of a resolution in writing, signed by each eligible director
in the meeting.