( 1 ) THE only question that has come up for consideration before the Division Bench is : whether the day on which the notice of the general meeting of the company is served and the day on which the meeting is held are to be excluded, when calculating 21 days, the period of notice, prescribed under section 171 of the Companies Act, 1956, herein referred to as the 1956 Act . Section 171 (1) of the 1956 Act reads as. follows :-

"171 (1 ).-A general meeting of the company may be called by giving not less than 21 days notice in writing. "

( 2 ) MR. S. N. Chopra, the learned counsel for the defendant, contended that the phrase "not less than 21 days notice" has to be construed with reference to section 53 (2) of the 1956 Act, which prescribes the time when the service of the notice of a meeting shall be deemed to have been effected. The relevant portion of section 53 (2) of the Act reads as follows:

"53 (2 ).-WHERE a document is sent by post,- (a) service thereof shall be deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre-paying and posting a letter containing the document. . . . . . ; and (b) such service shall be deemed to have been effected- (i) in the case of a notice