NCLT restores Company name with RoC subject to payment Rs 50,000 costs to PM Cares Fund

The National Company Law Tribunal Kochi Bench recently allowed the restoration of a Company's name with the Registrar of Companies subject to the payment of costs of Rs 50,000 to the PM Cares Fund. (M/s. Kaikara Crushers Pvt Ltd vs RoC).The order was passed by a bench of Ashok Kumar Borah, Member (Judicial)..The Appellant Company, M/s. Kaikara Crushers Pvt Ltd filed the present appeal under Section 252 of the Companies Act, 2013 for a direction to the Registrar of Companies, Kochi (RoC) to restore the name of the Company in the Register of Companies maintained by him for the State of Kerala and Lakshadweep..The main business of the Appellant Company was to carry on the business of mining, quarrying, crushing, polishing, cutting, manufacturing, marketing and exporting, of rocks, stones, granites, tiles, marbles, mosaic materials and their products..The NCLT was informed that the Company was a going concern and that the RoC had struck off the Company’s name from the Register of Companies due to non-carrying of business operation for a period of two years prior to the issue of notice..The current account number of the Company was also said to be in dormant status..Before the NCLT, the Appellant undertook to file its pending returns along with the filing fees and additional fees, as applicable on the date of actual filing, on receipt of a Restoration Order and thus prayed that a direction be issued to RoC for restoring the name of the Company in the Register of Companies..It was also stated that due to the strike off of the Appellant Company the DIN of the Directors had also been deactivated. .In response, the RoC stated that the action of striking off of the name of the Company was in due compliance of Section 248 of the Act and deserved the protection of the Tribunal..It was submitted that the action was triggered due to negligence and lack of due diligence on the part of the directors of the Company for not discharging their statutory duties in filing the statutory returns within the due date stipulated under the Companies Act and also for not responding to the several periodical notices within the notice periods..After perusing the Audit Report, Financial Statement and Annual Returns of Company for the period 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 and the Income Tax filing acknowledgement for the Assessment Year 2020-2021, the NCLT opined that it would be just and equitable to order restoration of the name of the Company in the Register of Companies..It ordered, .“The Registrar of Companies, the Respondent herein, is ordered to restore the original status of the Appellant Company as if the name of the Company has not been struck off from the Register of Companies and take all consequential actions like change of Company’s status from ‘Strike off’ to Active (for e-filing) and to intimate the bankers about restoration of the name of the Company so as to defreeze its accounts. Registrar of Companies, Kochi is also directed to allow for filing of the Annual Returns and Financial Statements by the Company to restore the name of the Company.".Apart from ordering the fling of the statutory documents along with prescribed fees/additional fee/fine as decided by Registrar of Companies, the NCLT inter alia directed the Appellant Company to pay costs of Rs 50,000 to PM Cares Fund, failing which the order would lapse..“The Appellant is directed to pay the costs of 50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand only) to P M Cares Fund and proof of payment be handed over to Registrar of Companies, Kerala within three weeks from the date of receipt of this order, while submitting the documents, failing which this order will lapse.”, the order reads. .The Appellant Company was represented by Advocate Dhanya VS of M/s GSPU & Associates..Read the Order: