प्रेस क्लब आफ इंडिया के सालाना चुनाव कई हफ्तों के लिए टल गए हैं. इसके पीछे कई तरह के कयास लगाए गए. कुछ लोगों ने गंभीर किस्म के आरोप भी लगाए. पर अब प्रेस क्लब आफ इंडिया की मैनेजिंग कमेटी ने स्पष्ट किया है कि आखिर किन वजहों से चुनाव टालने को मजबूर होना पड़ा. इसके पीछे वजह बताया गया कंपनी एक्ट में कई महत्वपूर्ण बदलाव. उन बदलावों के अनुरूप प्रेस क्लब को ढालने के लिए वक्त चाहिए. इसी वजह से चुनाव टालने जैसा बड़ा व मुश्किल फैसला लेना पड़ा. यह वजह कितना पर्याप्त है चुनाव टालने के लिए, ये तो प्रेस क्लब के सदस्य गण बताएंगे लेकिन प्रेस क्लब आफ इंडिया की तरफ से इसके सदस्यों को चुनाव टालने को लेकर जो मेल भेजा गया है, उसकी एक प्रति भड़ास के पास भी है, जिसे यहां प्रकाशित किया जा रहा है.
NOTICE
The Managing Committee meeting held on 24th March, 2015 deliberated upon following issues. The summary of proceedings of MC is put up for general information of the members. Section 96 of the Companies Act, 2013 requires that every company other than a One Person Company shall in each year hold in addition to any other meetings, a general meeting as its annual general meeting and shall specify the meeting as such in the notices calling it, and not more than fifteen months shall elapse between the date of one annual general meeting of a company and that of the next.
And section 137 requires that a copy of the financial statements, including consolidated financial statement, if any, along with all the documents which are required to be or attached to such financial statements under this Act, duly adopted at the annual general meeting of the company, shall be filed with the Registrar within thirty days of the date of annual general meeting.
And Similarily, section 152 of the Companies Act, 2013 provides that :
(a) Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, every director shall be appointed by the company in general meeting.
(b) No person shall be appointed as a director of a company unless he has been allotted the Director Identification Number under section 154.
(c) Every person proposed to be appointed as a director by the company in general meeting or otherwise, shall furnish his Director Identification Number and a declaration that he is not disqualified to become a director under this Act.
(d) A person appointed as a director shall not act as a director unless he gives his consent to hold the office as director and such consent has been filed with the Registrar within thirty days of his appointment in such manner as may be prescribed.
Deposit (Refundable) of Rs 1 Lakh as a precondition along with the DIN to contest election in Section 160 of the new act has also created an ambiguity and the MC has mandated a committee of its members to examine this aspect of law and submit a report.
Aforesaid changes in the Companies Act, 2013 have necessitated the postponement of PCI election 2015 by a few weeks, because the election of Governing Body committee members (directors) can only be held in Annual General Meeting of the company. The audited annual accounts of PCI for Financial year 2014-15 are to be compulsorily required to be presented before the General Body for its adoption and the audit of accounts usually takes at least two months to complete.
In the light of above compulsion by the Companies Act, 2013, the MC has no choice but to defer the election be a few weeks. Provisional balance sheet for the year (2014-15) shall be ready in next 20 days and MC is confident that the Statutory Auditors will be able to complete the process of audit pertaining to account (2014-15) by the end of April, 2015.
Taking all requirements, in the view MC felt that the election to elect a new MC would be held at the AGM of the company in the month of May 2015.
In the meantime, the present Managing Committee hereby resolves that after 30th March (the day of announcement of results of the last year election) it will regard itself, in spirit as serving in care-taker capacity so that an important landmark in the life of club resulting from the changes in the Companies Act, 2013 may be fulfilled.
In the changed capacity from March 31st the present MC would continue to fulfill all its statutory commitments which inter alia include the work related to preparation of annual accounts, all routine work needed for the functional operation of the Club, any old work of ordinary nature, besides bringing out notification for the election officer for overseeing the election to be scheduled in May 2015. In its extended phase, the committee will refrain from taking decisions on policy matters
Managing Committee
Press Club of India
New Delhi
