Court finds violation of Companies Act; all office-bearers removed, new Board of Directors to be appointed
Kochi: The Kerala High Court has disqualified Vellappally Natesan from the post of General Secretary of SNDP Yogam after finding violations of the Companies Act.
The court also disqualified all office-bearers of the organisation, including President M.N. Soman and Vice President Thushar Vellappally. The High Court directed that a new Board of Directors be appointed for SNDP Yogam.
The order was issued by a single bench of Justice T.R. Ravi. SNDP Yogam is a registered organisation under the Companies Act, and its office-bearers function as company directors.
The court found that the directors, including Vellappally Natesan and Thushar Vellappally, did not have valid Director Identification Number (DIN) accounts, which are mandatory for company directors. Based on this, the court disqualified them under Section 164(2) of the Companies Act.
The High Court also noted that the governing body had failed to submit annual financial statements and returns for three consecutive years, which amounts to a violation of the Companies Act. The court observed that the organisation had not submitted annual account statements to the IG Registration Department since 2014.
Although the SNDP Yogam had later approached the government and paid a fine, after which the government allowed the organisation to continue functioning, the decision was challenged in court.
The writ petition was filed by late writer M.K. Sanu and SNDP Yogam Protection Committee Chairman Advocate S. Chandrasenan. They argued that under company law, such violations can be condoned only for companies and not for individuals by the government.
After hearing the petition, the High Court issued the order disqualifying the office-bearers.
