JUDGMENT :

Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, J.

1. This batch of writ appeals arise out of a common order dated 13.01.2020 whereby the separate writ petitions filed by each Appellant herein to quash the respective disqualification by the Registrar of Companies (the ROC) and for consequential reactivation of the Director Identification Number (DIN) or permission for appointment/reappointment as director were dismissed.

2. The Companies Act, 2013 (CA 2013) deals with disqualifications for appointment as a director in Section 164 which came into force on 01.04.2014. Section 164(1) thereof sets out eight grounds of disqualification that are individual director-specific and broadly corresponds to Section 274(1)(a)-(f) of the earlier Companies Act, 1956 (CA 1956). Section 164(2), which bears some resemblance to Section 274(1)(g) of CA 1956 but is wider in scope, on the other hand, deals with default by the company concerned in fulfilling its obligations and the attribution of such default to the directors, thereby resulting in their disqualification. In these cases, we are concerned with Section 164(2)(a) which prescribes that a person who is or has been a director of a company which has not filed