The High Court of Delhi dismissed the petitions filed by M/s. Aryan Cargo Express Private Limited and its parent company M/s. Aryan Cargo and Express Logistics Private Limited, directing them to pay the requisite late fees for the filing of belated annual returns and balance sheets. The court held that the companies must comply with the prescribed fees to restore their names in the Registrar of Companies.
The decision came in response to the direction sought by the petitioners to condone the delay in filing e-forms related to annual returns and balance sheets without additional fees.
The Petitioners, represented by Mr. Vaibhav Dang, argued that the delay should be waived in light of the court’s previous orders and the Companies Fresh Start Scheme (CFSS), 2020, which allowed companies to file delayed documents without penalties.
The case’s background revealed that the Petitioners’ companies were struck off from the Registrar of Companies in 2017 for non-filing of returns, leading to the disqualification of their directors and deactivation of their Director Identification Numbers (DIN) and Digital Signature Certificates (DSC). Initially, the directors filed a writ petition, W.P.(C) 9088/2018, seeking revocation of their disqualification, which was granted in November 2019, but the court upheld the penalties for late filing of documents.
In 2020, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs introduced the CFSS, 2020, and a subsequent Scheme for condonation of delay for companies restored between December 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020. These schemes allowed companies to file overdue documents without additional fees. However, these schemes were not applicable to the Petitioners as the restoration order for their companies was passed on February 11, 2021, after the schemes’ validity period.
Despite this, the Petitioners attempted to file their overdue returns in March 2021, only to be met with additional fee requirements on the MCA portal. Their representation for a fee waiver was not considered, prompting them to approach the Delhi High Court.
The Respondent revenue, Union of India and others, represented by Ms. Nidhi Raman and Mr. Zubin Singh contended that the benefit of the condonation schemes was only available to companies restored within the specified timeframe by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Since the Petitioners received their restoration order after the scheme’s expiration, they were not entitled to the fee waiver.
The single bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad emphasised that the court’s previous orders did not extend the benefit of the condonation schemes to the Petitioners. The bench noted that while the court had restored the companies’ names, it had explicitly required the payment of requisite fees for filing overdue documents.
The court clarified that the Petitioners could not seek relief retrospectively through the current petitions, as the previous order had mandated the payment of late fees. Consequently, the Petitioners were directed to comply with the fee requirements to restore their companies’ names.
In result, the High Court of Delhi dismissed the petitions and directed the petitioners to pay the requisite late fees for the filing of belated annual returns and balance sheets.
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