Madras High Court
RAMANUJAM
Soma Veerappa - Appellant
Versus
Muthurasappa Chettiar - Respondent
Decided On : 02/23/1973
COMPANY LAW - SALE OF SHARES - RESTRICTION ON TRANSFER - EFFECT ON COURT SALE - EXCESSIVE EXECUTION - SETTING ASIDE OF SALE.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner challenged the sale of his shares in a private limited company in execution of a decree against him. The sale was challenged on the grounds that the sale of the shares was prohibited by the articles of association and that the sale of excessive shares than what was absolutely required to discharge the decree debt should be set aside.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the restrictions imposed by the articles of association on the transfer of shares did not affect the sale of the shares in execution of a decree of Court. The court also held that the sale of excessive shares was not justified and set aside the sale so far as it related to the excess two shares.
Issues: 1. Whether the sale of shares in a private limited company is prohibited by the articles of association. 2. Whether the sale of excessive shares than what is absolutely required to discharge the decree debt should be set aside.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The restrictions imposed by the articles of association on the transfer of shares do not affect the sale of the shares in execution of a decree of Court. 2. The sale of excessive shares is not justified and should be set aside.
Final Decision: The court partly allowed the petition and set aside the sale of the excess two shares.
2. As regards the first contention, it is pointed out that the nature of the shares is such that they cannot be sold to any one other than a share-holder and that the sale of six shares to the decree-holder's son who is not a share-holder of the company is invalid. Reference is made to Arts. 2 (c), 9 to 11 and 13 to 15 of the Articles of Association and it is contended that there is a complete prohibition of the transfer of the company's shares to outsiders not acceptable to the directors and that the directors may refuse to recognise the transfer and to register the same in the books of the company at their discretion. It is true the above articles impose stringent restrictions on the transfer of shares by a shareholder and discretion is given to the directors to recognise or not the transfers effected by a share-holder. But the existence of these restrictions will not at all affect the sale of the shares in execution of a decree of Court. Whether the Court auction purchaser will be able to have the transfer recognised by the directors or not is not a question with which the Court is concerned. The only question to be decided is as to whether the judgment debtor had any saleable interest in the shares in question. The mere existence of certain restrictions on the registration of the shares transferred will not affect the ownership of the shares. It is well established that the transfer of interest in the shares from the transferor to the transferee is independent of the requirement of its registration for purposes of Companie
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