Section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956 defines a Government Company as “any company in which not less than fifty-one percent of the paid-up share capital is held by the Central Government or by any State Government or Governments, or partly by the Central Government and partly by one or more state Governments, and includes a company which is a subsidiary of a Government Company as thus defined.
Application of Sec. 619 to other Companies:
The Companies (Amendment) Act, 1974 has introduced sec. 619-B which provides that “the provisions of Sec. 619 shall apply to a company in which not less than fifty-one percent of the paid-up share capital is held by one or more of the following or any combination thereof, as it were a Government Company, namely:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(a) The Central Government and one or more State Government Companies;
(b) Any state Government or Governments and one or more Government Companies;
(c) The Central Government, one or more State Governments and one or more Government Companies;
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ADVERTISEMENTS:
(d) The Central Government and one or more Corporations owned or controlled by the Central Government;
(e) The Central Government, one or more State Governments and one or more Corporations owned or controlled by the Central Government;
(f) One or more Corporations owned or controlled by the Central Government or the State Government;
(g) More than one Government Company.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
This is to be noted that now an auditor of a Government Company is required to ensure that the provisions of Sec. 619-B are complied with before he accepts the appointment.
Powers of the Central Government vs. Application of Sec. 618, 619 and 619-A : Under Sec. 620(1), “the Central Government may by notification in the official Gazette direct that any of the provisions of the Companies Act (other than Sec. 618, 619 and 619-A) specified in the notification shall not apply to any Government Company or shall to any Government Company, only with such exceptions, modifications and adaptations, as may be specified in the notification.”
Section 620(2) provides that a copy of every notification to be issued under Sec. 620(1) shall be laid in draft before both Houses of Parliament for a period of not less than thirty days while they are in the session and if within that period, either House disapproves of the issue of the notification or approves of such issue only with modifications, the notification shall not be issued or, as the case may require, shall be issued only with such modifications as may be agreed on by both the Houses.
Since the staid period of 30 days cannot sometimes be completed in one session, Sec. 620 has been amended by the Companies (Amendment) Act, 1977 to permit the period of 30 days to be completed in one session or two or more successive sessions.