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Section 7 of the Companies Act 2013 prescribes the procedure for incorporation of a company. It requires filing the memorandum and articles signed by subscribers, a declaration by an advocate or practising professional and by a subscriber that all requirements have been complied with, a declaration from each subscriber and first director in the form prescribed, address for correspondence till the registered office is established, particulars of subscribers and first directors, and proof of identity of subscribers and directors. On compliance, the Registrar issues a Certificate of Incorporation in Form INC-11 along with the Corporate Identity Number.

Section 4 governs the contents and reservation of name through the memorandum of association. Sub-section (1) lists the six mandatory clauses — name, registered office State, objects, liability, capital and subscription. Sub-section (4) read with Rule 9 of the Companies Incorporation Rules 2014 permits an applicant to reserve a name through SPICe+ Part A; an approved name remains valid for twenty days from the date of approval for a new incorporation.

Sub-section (1) of Section 12 provides that a company shall, within thirty days of its incorporation and at all times thereafter, have a registered office capable of receiving and acknowledging communications. Sub-section (2) requires verification of the registered office in Form INC-22 within thirty days where the address was not included in the SPICe+ application. Failure attracts a penalty of one thousand rupees per day of default subject to a maximum of one lakh rupees on the company and every officer in default.

Section 90 obliges every individual holding directly or indirectly not less than ten per cent of shares, voting rights or right to receive distributable dividend in a reporting company to declare such interest in Form BEN-1 within thirty days of acquiring such status. The reporting company in turn files Form BEN-2 within thirty days of receipt of the declaration. A register of significant beneficial owners shall be maintained in Form BEN-3.

Rule 38 prescribes SPICe+ as the integrated incorporation form. Sub-rule (1) makes SPICe+ the mandatory form for incorporating a company through electronic mode with effect from 23 February 2020. SPICe+ is a two-part form — Part A for name reservation and Part B integrating incorporation, allotment of DIN, mandatory issue of PAN and TAN, EPFO and ESIC registration, profession tax registration in Maharashtra and Karnataka, opening of bank account, and GSTIN allotment if opted for.

Section 184 requires every director, at the first meeting of the Board in which he participates as a director, and thereafter at the first Board meeting of every financial year, or whenever there is a change in the disclosures already made, to disclose his concern or interest in any company, body corporate, firm or other association of individuals, in Form MBP-1. Contravention attracts imprisonment up to one year or fine between fifty thousand and one lakh rupees.

What Private Limited incorporation means under Indian company law

Limited liability and separate legal personality

The foundational doctrine of Private Limited incorporation is separate legal personality, articulated by the House of Lords in Salomon v A Salomon and Co Ltd [1897] and adopted by Indian jurisprudence in Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co Ltd v State of Bihar [1965 SCR 391]. The company is a distinct legal person from its members and directors, capable of holding property, suing and being sued in its own name. Liability of members under Section 2(22) is limited to the amount unpaid on the shares held. The corporate veil can be lifted only in narrow circumstances — fraud, sham, evasion of statutory obligation — as elaborated in Vodafone International Holdings BV v Union of India [2012 6 SCC 613]. The limited-liability shield is the principal commercial advantage of Private Limited over proprietorship and partnership, and is the reason promoters of consequence almost invariably elect the Private Limited form for ventures with external counterparties.

Constitutional documents — MOA and AOA

The Memorandum of Association under Section 4 is the foundational charter that defines the company's name, registered office State, objects, liability and capital. The MOA must be in one of the Tables A to E of Schedule I, depending on whether the company is limited by shares, limited by guarantee or unlimited. The Articles of Association under Section 5 contain the regulations for management of the company, covering board composition, meetings, share transfer, dividend declaration, and members' rights. Section 6 establishes the supremacy of the Act over any conflicting MOA / AOA provision. Section 13 governs alteration of MOA (special resolution plus Central Government approval for object-clause changes affecting registered office State), Section 14 governs alteration of AOA (special resolution plus filing of MGT-14 within thirty days). The MOA and AOA filed with SPICe+ Part B become the binding constitutional documents on incorporation.

Statutory framework under Section 7

Private Limited incorporation in India is governed by Section 7 of the Companies Act 2013 read with the Companies (Incorporation) Rules 2014. Section 7(1) requires the subscribers to the memorandum to file an application with the Registrar within whose jurisdiction the registered office of the company is to be situated, accompanied by the MOA and AOA duly signed by the subscribers, a declaration by a professional that the requirements of the Act and Rules have been complied with, a declaration from each subscriber and first director in Form INC-9, the address for correspondence till the registered office is established, the particulars of subscribers and first directors with proof of identity, and the particulars of first directors with their DIN and consent in Form DIR-2. Section 7(2) provides that the Registrar shall on the basis of the documents filed register the memorandum and articles and issue a Certificate of Incorporation in Form INC-11 with a Corporate Identity Number. The CIN under Section 7(3) is the company's unique identifier for all subsequent statutory filings.

Audit under Section 139

Subsequent appointment and rotation

Section 139(1) requires the company at the first AGM to appoint an individual or a firm as an auditor to hold office from the conclusion of that AGM till the conclusion of the sixth AGM, with shareholder ratification at every subsequent AGM (the ratification requirement was removed by the Companies (Amendment) Act 2017 — appointment is now for the entire five-year term without annual ratification). Section 139(2) read with Rule 5 prescribes auditor rotation for listed companies and prescribed unlisted companies — individual auditors can serve a maximum of one term of five consecutive years, audit firms a maximum of two terms of five consecutive years each, followed by a cooling-off of five years. Private Limiteds with paid-up capital below ₹20 crore and borrowings below ₹50 crore are exempt from the rotation requirement.

Auditor independence under Section 141 and 144

Section 141 prescribes the eligibility, qualifications and disqualifications of auditors. A person is not eligible for appointment as auditor if he is a body corporate other than an LLP, an officer or employee of the company, a partner / employee of an officer or employee of the company, a person who is indebted to the company in excess of ₹5 lakh, a person whose relative is a director / KMP of the company, and so on. Section 144 prohibits the auditor from rendering certain services to the company directly or indirectly — accounting and book-keeping, internal audit, design and implementation of any financial information system, actuarial services, investment advisory services, investment banking services, management services. The auditor's independence is the foundation of audit quality and is rigorously enforced through ICAI peer review and disciplinary mechanisms.

Auditor's report and CARO 2020

Section 143(3) prescribes the contents of the auditor's report — opinion on the financial statements, whether the financial statements give a true and fair view, observations on internal financial controls under Section 143(3)(i) (for prescribed companies), and matters to be reported under Section 143(11) which are set out in the Companies (Auditor's Report) Order 2020 (CARO 2020). CARO 2020 applies to all companies except those expressly exempt — banking companies, insurance companies, Section 8 companies, OPCs, small companies, and Private Limiteds with paid-up capital + reserves ≤ ₹1 crore and borrowings ≤ ₹1 crore and revenue ≤ ₹10 crore. CARO 2020 has 21 reporting clauses covering fixed assets, inventory, loans, statutory dues, IFC, related-party transactions, and many more, significantly expanding the auditor's reporting burden.

Strike-off under Section 248

Voluntary strike-off application

Section 248(2) read with Rule 4 of the Companies (Removal of Names of Companies from the Register of Companies) Rules 2016 allows a company to apply for voluntary removal of its name from the Register on the grounds that it has discontinued business or has no assets / liabilities, by filing Form STK-2 with the Registrar. Pre-conditions: the company must have extinguished all its liabilities, obtained consent of seventy-five percent of members by value in a special resolution, and not have made any application under Section 230 to 233 (compromise / arrangement) in the preceding three months. The application is accompanied by an indemnity bond from directors in STK-3, a statement of accounts certified by a CA in STK-8 (not older than thirty days), an affidavit in STK-4 from each director, and the requisite fee of ₹10,000. The Registrar publishes a notice in STK-6 inviting objections.

Suo-moto strike-off by Registrar

Section 248(1) empowers the Registrar to strike off a company's name suo moto on four grounds: (a) the company has failed to commence its business within one year of incorporation, (b) the company is not carrying on any business or operation for a period of two immediately preceding financial years and has not made any application under Section 455 for obtaining the status of a dormant company, (c) the subscribers to the memorandum have not paid the subscription which they had undertaken and a declaration to that effect under Section 10A has not been filed within 180 days of incorporation, (d) the company is not carrying on any business or operations as revealed after the physical verification carried out under Section 12(9). The Registrar issues a notice in STK-1 to the company and its directors inviting representations within thirty days before proceeding to strike off.

Consequences of strike-off and revival

On strike-off under Section 248(5), the company stands dissolved and ceases to exist as a body corporate; the directors and officers cease to hold office; the assets of the company vest in the Central Government; and the liability of every director / KMP continues — Section 250 explicitly preserves the liability as if the company had not been struck off. Revival under Section 252(1) is available within twenty years through an application to the National Company Law Tribunal by an aggrieved person — typically a member, creditor, workman, or the Registrar himself — who can demonstrate that the strike-off was not justified or that the company was at the date of strike-off carrying on business or in operation. The NCLT order restores the company to the Register; ROC re-publishes the name in the Gazette.

The Section 7 incorporation framework

Effect of registration and conclusive evidence

Section 7(2) provides that on registration of the memorandum and articles, the Registrar shall issue a Certificate of Incorporation. Section 9 states that from the date of incorporation mentioned in the certificate, the subscribers to the memorandum and all other members of the company shall be a body corporate by the name contained in the memorandum, capable of exercising all the functions of an incorporated company. The Certificate of Incorporation under Section 7(3) is conclusive evidence of the fact that the company has been duly registered under the Act. The Supreme Court in Hari Khemu Gawali v Deputy Commissioner of Police [AIR 1956 SC 559] and subsequent cases has confirmed that the certificate cannot be questioned in collateral proceedings — challenges must be through striking-off proceedings under Section 248 or scheme proceedings.

Subscribers and first directors

Under Section 7(1)(c) read with Section 3(1)(b), a Private Limited must have a minimum of two subscribers to the memorandum and a maximum of two hundred members. Each subscriber must subscribe to at least one share and sign the MOA and AOA in the presence of a witness. The first directors of the company under Section 152(2) are the persons named in the Articles of Association as such, or in the absence of such naming, the subscribers themselves. The minimum number of directors under Section 149(1)(a) is two for a Private Limited and Section 149(3) mandates at least one director who has stayed in India for at least 182 days during the financial year. Each first director must furnish a DIR-2 consent and a DIR-8 declaration of non-disqualification under Section 164(2). DIN for a first-time director can be obtained through SPICe+ itself without a separate DIR-3 application.

Documents accompanying the incorporation application

Section 7(1) prescribes the documents that must accompany the incorporation application — the MOA and AOA duly signed, a declaration by an advocate, CA, CS or CMA in practice in Form INC-8 that all requirements of the Act and Rules have been complied with, an affidavit from each subscriber and first director in Form INC-9 (now an integrated declaration within SPICe+) that they are not convicted of any offence in connection with promotion / formation / management of any company and have not been guilty of any fraud or misfeasance, the address for correspondence till the registered office is established, the particulars of each subscriber with proof of identity (PAN, Aadhaar, passport / driving licence / voter ID) and proof of residence, the particulars of first directors with DIN where allotted, and consent of first directors in Form DIR-2.

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