Advocates are not allowed : Registrar of Companies

Advocates are not allowed: ROC

Hon’ble Delhi High Court is likely to decide the ongoing controversy between Advocates on the one part and Chartered Accounts, Company Secretary, and Cost Accountants on the other part on 21st February, 2011 after hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has already filed a reply affidavit in the said Public Interest Litigation (PIL) pending before the Court, which alleges that the Registrar of Companies (ROC) discriminates against lawyers by only allowing Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries or Cost Accountants to certify electronic submission to the corporate registrar. Till 2006 Registrar of Companies (ROC) was accepting the incorporation documents and other information from companies in physical / manual forms. In that environment Advocates were serving their corporate clients on their own like other professional i.e. Chartered Accountants and Company Secretaries. Since the introduction of e-governance in the ROC, all the physical forms have been replaced with e-forms and their certification by at least one Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant or Company Secretary has been made mandatory. Advocates have not been empowered to certify the e-forms hence they need to approach a Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary or Cost Accountant to get every form certified before submitting with ROC. Not only this, Ministry has alienated the advocates from the definition of practicing professionals. Being aggrieved by this discrepancy between Advocates on the one part and Chartered Accounts, Company Secretary, and Cost Accountants on the other part petitioner approached Delhi High Court who earlier issued a notice and gave one month’s time to the ministry to file a reply affidavit. The Petitioner’s Advocate Sandeep Sharma has contended that the use of technology should be for the upliftment and betterment of all the professions and not just for selected ones.