Private firm fined for not notifying address change

Noting a rise in the fraudulent practice by registered companies of not intimating change in office addresses, a Delhi court has slapped a fine of Rs 4 lakh on a private firm and its director for failing to inform shifting of its premises with the Registrar of Companies.

After a decade-long trial, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Special Acts) Devendra Kumar Sharma directed the company and its director to pay fine of Rs 2 lakh each, while refusing to take a lenient view in the case.

"... In such cases, taking a lenient view in present scenario and after trial of about 10 years may hamper the interest of justice," the court said.

The order of the court came on a complaint filed by the Registrar of Companies (ROC) in 2000 against Ibex Enterprises and its director Rakesh Thapar for violating section 146 (4) of the Companies Act which mandates that every company shall have a registered office and any change in this address should be notified to the ROC within 30 days.

"Accused no. 2 (Thapar) was the managing director and principal officer. Thus, it was his duty to intimate the office of Registrar regarding change of address of registered office of the company," the court said.

The ROC said all communications sent to the company by it at its last known address were received back undelivered and urged that the case should set an example for other companies operating in Delhi and NCR to follow the rules.

A former Deputy Director (Inspection) at the Department of Company Affairs also deposed before the court that he visited the office of the company at Defence Colony in October 1999 at the address given in its Form 18.

Upon inspection and through annual return of the company, he came to know that it has shifted its registered office to Lajpat Nagar.

The court rejected the argument of the directors of the company that the change in address was evident in the annual return of the company.

The court noted ROC's submissions that there are over 3.25 lakh companies in Delhi and 75,000 in Haryana and it is not possible to check the balance sheet of each and every company to know about their latest addresses.