Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CORPORATE LAW
The term ‘business’ should be used to convey the same meaning as the term ‘trade’ simply
denotes purchase and sale of goods whereas ‘business’ includes all activities from production
to distribution of goods and services. It embraces industry, trade and other activities like
banking, transport, insurance and warehousing which facilitates production and distribution of
goods and services. According to F.C. Hopper, “The whole complex field of commerce and
industry which includes the basic industries, processing and manufacturing industries, and the
network of ancillary services: distribution, banking, insurance transport and so on, which
serve and inter penetrate the world of business as a whole” are called
business activities. 3
Learning outcomes
By the end of this module and having completed the essential reading and activities, students
would be able to:
4
http://www.ibbusinessandmanagement.com/11-the-nature-of-business-activity.html accessed on 6th
August 2014
Government enterprises engaged in business. In case of government enterprise
profit is termed as surplus.
Functions of Business5 :
Personnel
Function
To achieve its objectives, a business endeavor performs many functions which may be
broadly grouped under the following headings: Production, Marketing, Finance and
Personnel.
(i) Production Function:
Under this function a business organization transforms its inputs like manpower,
material, machinery, capital, information and energy into particular outputs as
demanded by the society.
(ii) Marketing Function:
This is concerned with distribution of goods and services produced by the
production department. As we all know that in order to make a business
successful how important is marketing, the marketing department guides the
production department in product planning, development and prices of various
products produced by the business, it also promotes the sale of goods through
advertisement and sales promotion.
(iii) Finance Function:
Money is an important factor in any business, thus arrangement of sufficient
capital for the smooth running of business is an important function for a business
organization to undertake. Many important decisions such as sources of finance,
investment of funds in productive ventures, and levels of inventory of various
items are undertaken.
(iv) Personnel Function:
As we know that if you want to make your business successful, then you need to
have people who can help you in making it successful and achieving the business
objectives, hence, this function is concerned with finding suitable employees,
giving them training, fixing their remuneration and motivating them.
5
Ibid
FORMS OF BUSINESSORGANIZATIONS6
Meaning:
A business enterprise may be owned by one person or a group of persons. When it is owned
by one person, it is known as sole proprietorship. Apart from this form of organization, other
forms of business organizations which come under the category of ‘group ownership’ or
‘joint ownership’7include Joint Hindu Family, Partnership firms, co- operatives and Limited
Liability Partnership Firms. Limited liability partnerships and companies are body corporates
which are incorporated by group of persons interested in running any lawful business for
motive of earning profit. Such persons incorporate the body corporate and transfer their
business to it in order to limit their liability.
SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP
Business which runs under the exclusive ownership and control of an individual is called the
sole proprietorship or single entrepreneurship. Under this form, an individual may run the
business alone with the help of his own skill and intelligence or may employ a few employees
for helping him in conducting the business. It is the simplest and the oldest form of business
organization.
(i) This is owned by one man who contributes capital for conducting business.
(ii) He has absolute control over the affairs of the concern. His decision is final.
(iii) The attraction of reaping the entire profits motivates him to put forth the best in
him.
(iv) The liability of the sole proprietor is unlimited and he earns all profits.
(vi) It is not a separate entity; consequently the business comes to an end with the
permanent disability or death of the proprietor.
(vii) It has limited capital as only the sole proprietor contributes capital for the
business.
6
http://business.gov.in/starting_business/location_industry.php accessed on 6th August 2014
7www.b-u.ac.in/sde_book/bcom_bs.pdf accessed on 7th August,2014
Merits:
(i) No legal formalities are required to complied with in order to start a sole
proprietary business, it is one of the most easy form of business organization to
start, easy to form and dissolve too.
(ii) Under this form of business organization, sole proprietor enjoys the entire profits
and hence is inspired and motivated to give his best of efforts and skills in
running the business.
(iii) The sole proprietor is free to direct and control the operations of his business.
(iv) Business secrecy is maintained and to face the challenge of competition in the
market, maintenance of business secrecy provides an edge to the firm over its
rival firms.
(v) More prompt and quick decisions can be taken, as being a sole proprietor he
doesn’t need to consult anyone.
(vi) Sole proprietorship offers the scope for flexibility in business operations by
allowing the business to adapt and adjust itself to changing times and situations.
(vii) As the size of a sole proprietary business is small and the owner maintains a
personal touch with the employees and customers, it brings in efficiency and
motivation.
(viii) Government interference in the business activities under this form of business is
least and in the day-to-day running of the business also there is no interference by
the government.
Demerits:
(i) Large units which require enormous capital cannot be started by an individual as
he can contribute only a limited capital in the business.
(ii) Limited Managerial Skill
(iii) As the liability of a sole trader being unlimited, even his private assets are in
danger of being lost in order to meet liabilities of his business.
(iv) Uncertainty of continuity
(v) It’s very difficult to lock maximum advantage under this form of business, as the
financial recourses are limited.
The Joint Hindu Family firm is a form of business organization in which the family possesses
some inherited property and the ‘Karta’, the head of the family, manages its affairs. It comes
into existence by the operation of Hindu Law and not out of contract between the members or
coparceners. As a result, the Joint Hindu Family Business is a business by co-parceners of a
Hindu undivided estate. 8
Features of HUF:
(i) Membership of the family business is the result of status arising from birth in the
family, and hence there is no question of the members being discriminated in
terms of minority and majority on the basis of age.
(ii) Only male persons, and not females, can claim co-parcenary interest in the Hindu
Family business firm.
(iii) The right to manage the business vests in Karta alone (i.e. the Head of the
Family).
(iv) Death or insolvency of a co-parcener or even that of the karta does not affect the
existence of the Joint Hindu Family business.
(i) Irrespective of the contribution made, every co-parcener in the successful running
of the business gets an equal share of profit.
(ii) Unrestricted freedom is enjoyed by the karta of the family to run the business as
no other co-parceners of the family interferes in the running of the business.
(iii) As different generations of a family works in the same business, the younger
generation gets an advantage and help to develop and acquire expertise without
much difficulty.
(iv) It serves as an insurance cover for maintaining the children, widows, and ailing or
invalid members of the family.
PARTNERSHIP FIRM
Section 4 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 defines partnership as “the relation between
persons who have agreed to share the profits of a business carried on by all or any of them
acting for all.” Persons entering into partnership agreement are known as ‘partners’ and
collectively as ‘firm’ or ‘partnership firm’. The name in which the businesses carried on is
called ‘firm name’.
(i) At least two persons are needed to form a partnership. The Partnership Act fixes
no limit on the number of partners to form a partnership whereas the Companies
Act, 1956 fixes some limit, it lays down that any partnership or association of
more than 10persons in case of banking business and 20 persons in other business
operations as illegal unless registered as a Joint Stock Company9.According to
the Companies Act 2013, the maximum number of persons/partners in any
association/partnership may be upto such number as may be prescribed but not
exceeding one hundred. This restriction will not apply to an association or
partnership, constituted by professionals like lawyer, chartered accountants,
company secretaries, etc. who are governed by their special laws. Under the
Companies Act, 1956, there was a limit of maximum 20 persons/partners and
there was no exemption granted to the professionals.
(ii) Under this form of business organization agreement forms the basis of a
relationship and not the status as in the case of Joint Hindu Family. There must
be an agreement between two or more persons to enter into partnership.
(iii) Simply holding a property in joint ownership cannot be considered as
partnership, it should be accompanied by certain business activities and the
partners must agree to carry some lawful business.
(iv) There must be an agreement to share the profits and losses of the business of the
partnership firm. However, sharing of profit is not a conclusive proof of
partnership.
(v) Fundamental test to test the existence of a partnership firm is that there must be
an agency relationship between the partners.
(vi) Out of contractual relationship between the partners, all the partners are liable
jointly and severally for all the debts and obligations of the firm.
(vii) Partner himself being an agent of the partnership firm cannot delegate his
proprietary interest to outsider and if he wants to then he cannot do it without the
unanimous consent of the other partners.
Merits of Partnership:
(i) This form of business organization like sole proprietorship is also relatively free
from legal formalities in terms of its formation. Registration of partnership firm is
not mandatory under the Partnership Act, 1932.
(ii) Under this form of business organization, partners can pool larger amount of
capital for the business.
(iii) Better management of the business is ensured as the partnership combines
abilities and skills of two or more persons (partners).
(iv) There is a flexibility in the functioning of the day to day business of the firm , as
partnership business is not regulated by any law in its day to day just as a
company business is regulated by the Company Law.
(i) The partnership business works steady as long as there is harmony and mutual
understanding among the partners. If there is any occasion when this harmony is
adversely affected that is the beginning of the end of a good partnership.
(ii) There is insecurity with the business after the death, retirement or insolvency of a
partner.
(iii) It fails to inspire public confidence as a partnership business is not subjected to
detailed regulations just as a company business.
(iv) A partnership is even worse than sole proprietorship because a partner is liable to
the extent of his private property not only for his own mistakes and lapses but
also for the mistakes, lapses and even dishonesty of his fellow partner or partners.
(v) As no partner can transfer his interest to an outsider without the unanimous
consent of all the partners, it makes investment in partnership business reluctantly
difficult.
COMPANY
Features:
(i) A company is an artificial person created by law to achieve the objectives for
which it is formed. A company exists only in the contemplation of law. It is an
artificial person in the sense that it is created by a process other than natural birth
and does not possess the physical attributes of a natural person.
(ii) This form of business organization has a continuous existence and its life is not
affected by the death, lunacy, insolvency or retirement of its members. Members
10
http://prezi.com/rk0bq8khmre4/joint-stock-company/ accessed on 8th August,2014
may come and go, however, the company continues its operations so long as it
fulfills the requirements of the law under which it has been formed.
Merits of a Company:
This form of business organization has become very popular not only in India but also outside
India mainly for industrial and trading operations of a large scale.
Advantages/merits enjoyed by the company form of organization are follows:
(i) By issuing shares and debentures to the public, a public company can raise large
amount of money.
(ii) Under this form of business organization, shareholders have limited liability for
the shares they hold in the company and their private property is not attachable to
recover the dues of the company. As a consequence, the people who don’t want
to take big risk in the industries they find this kind of business organization really
attractive.
(iii) This form of business organization has a continuous existence and its life is not
affected by the death, lunacy, insolvency or retirement of its members. Members
may come and go, however, the company continues its operations so long as it
fulfills the requirements of the law under which it has been formed.
(iv) Transferability of Shares: Shares of a public company are freely transferable
whereas restrictions are placed in case of transfer of shares in case of private
companies.
(v) As we know that a company can raise large amount of capital this allows the
company to take large scale operations.
(vi) Scope for Expansion and Growth is much higher.
Demerits of a Company:
(i) Large number of legal formalities has to be fulfilled by this form of a company,
for which provisions of a Companies Act are to be complied.
(iii) Under this form of business organization it has been seen that though every
shareholder has a right to participate in the Annual General Meeting, but in
practice, companies are managed by a small number of persons who are able to
perpetuate their reign over the company from year to year. This is because of a
number of factors like lack of interest on the part of the shareholders, low literacy
level among the shareholders, and lack of sufficient information about the
working of the company.
CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY
According to the International Labour Office, a cooperative organization is “an association of
persons, usually of limited means, who have voluntarily joined together to achieve a common
economic end, through the formation of a democratically controlled business organization,
making equitable contributions to the capital required and accepting affair share of risks and
benefits of the undertaking.”11
Merits:
Demerits:
11
http://www.ilo.org/empent/units/cooperatives/lang--en/index.htm, last assessed on 25th
September,2014
(i) The amount of capital that a co-operative can collect is very limited as of the
membership remains confined to a particular locality or region and also because
of the principle of ‘one man-one vote’.
(ii) In the day to day functioning of the cooperatives State governments subject them
to a variety of regulations which leads to interference and slow growth.
(iii) Day to day affairs are managed by the members only because of which the
organization has to suffer extremely limited managerial talent.
(iv) Lack of secrecy is seen in this form of business organization.
(v) All the above reasons lead to lack of motivation.
(vi) Although co-operatives are formed with great fan fare and with the great ideals of
co-operation and self-help, but soon these higher values of human life disappear
with the passage of time, as all the affairs are managed by the members only
which leads to differences among themselves which marks the beginning of an
end to the co-operative organization.
CORPORATE PERSONALITY
Corporate Personality is the creation of law. Both English and Indian law recognized legal
personality of a corporation. 12A corporation has a legal personality of its own and it can sue
and can be sued in its own name. It does not come to end with the death of its individual
members and therefore, has a perpetual existence. However, unlike natural persons, a
corporation can act only through its agents. Law provides procedure for winding up of a
corporate body. Besides, corporations the banks, railways, universities, colleges, church,
temple, hospitals etc. are also conferred legal personality. Union of India and States are also
recognized as legal or juristic persons.13
Corporation Aggregate: This is an association of human beings united for the purpose of
forwarding their certain interest. A limited company is one of the best examples of corporate
aggregate. This kind of a corporation is formed by the members who are in agreement to
contribute to the capital of the company in furtherance of a common object. Thus, their
liability is limited to the extent of their share-holding in the company. The shareholders have
a right to receive dividends from the profits of the company and exercise voting rights in the
general meeting of the company. The principle of corporate personality of a company was
recognized in the case of Saloman v. Saloman& Co14.
Corporation Sole: This kind of a corporation is stated by a single person who is personified
and regarded by law as a legal person, these single person exercises of some office function,
deals in legal capacity and has legal rights and duties towards the same.The object of a
corporation sole is similar to that of a corporation aggregate. 15
12http://www.studymode.com/subjects/in-what-circumstances-can-the-separate-corporate-personality-
3) Perpetual Succession:An incorporated company has continuous succession that means the
company shall retain its estate and possessions as the same entity with the same privileges
and immunities, notwithstanding any change in its members. Corporate existence of a
company is not affected by the death or insolvency of its members. The death or insolvency
of individual member does not in any way, affect its corporate existence.
In Gopalpur Tea Co. Ltd. v. Penhok Tea Co, Ltd., the court while applying the doctrine of
company's perpetual succession observed that though the whole undertaking of a company
was taken over under an Act which purported to extinguish all rights of action against the
company, neither the company was thereby extinguished nor any body's claim against it16.
16
(1982) 52 Comp. Out. 238
the company. Similar position regarding the transferability of shares applies in the Companies
Act, 2013.
7) Centralized Management: The shareholders have no direct concern with the management
of the company. They exercise, only a formative control. Thus, the management of the
company is altogether different from its ownership. Independent functioning of managerial
personnel attracts talented professional persons to work for the company in an atmosphere of
independence thus enabling them to achieve highest targets of production and management
leading to company's overall prosperity.
8) Capacity to sue and to be sued:A company being a body corporate can sue and can be
sued in its own name. A criminal complaint can be filed by a company, but the company has
to be represented by a natural person. In TVS Employees Federation v. TVS & Sons Ltd19 it
was held that the preparation of a video cassette by the workmen of a company showing their
struggle against the company's management and exhibition could be restrained only on
showing that the matter would be defamatory. In R v. Broadcasting Standards Commission,
the court of appeal held that a company can complain under the Broadcasting Act, 1996 about
unwarranted infringement of its privacy. In this case, the complaint was about the secret
filming of transactions in shops by the BBC and the allegation was that this constituted an
infringement of the company’s privacy. 20
17
(1955) 1 SCR 876
18
AIR 1960 Mad. 43
19
(1996) 1 WLR 132 (CA)
20
[2000]3 All ER 989
Disadvantages of Incorporation
1) Far more compliance and regulation to deal with increasing the risk of penalties.21
2) A company is more complicated and costly to wind up.
3) Directors are personally subject to regulations and can be fined or found guilty of a
criminal offence for failing to comply. Director shall be held personally liable if
he/she acts beyond the provisions of the Companies Act, Memorandum and Articles
of Association as it being ultra vires the company or the directors.
4) Lifting the Corporate veil-Corporate personality is considered to be the most
fundamental principle of Company law. When a company is incorporated it is
considered as a separate entity from its shareholders and directors, for this reason the
concept of lifting of corporate veil has come up. Lifting or piercing the veil is
corporate law’s most widely used doctrine to decide when a shareholder or
shareholders or directors will be held liable for obligations of the corporation. In the
case of Salomon v. Salomon & Company22 passed by the House of Lords in 1897, it
was laid down that a company is a distinct legal person, entirely different from the
members or the shareholders of that company. The courts have come up with some
ground on which veil can be lifted and they are firstly, where fraud is intended to be
prevented, the veil of a corporation is lifted by judicial decisions and the shareholders
21
http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/anyanswers/question/disadvantages-incorporation-including-
practical-issues accessed on 5th August 2014
22
[1897] A.C. 22
are held to be “persons who actually work for the corporation”; secondly, In the case
of group enterprises, the veil may be lifted to look at the economic realities of the
group; thirdly, in order to look at the characteristics of the shareholder, the corporate
veil may be lifted by the courts and lastly, the lifting of the corporate veil has at times
been warranted by the tax legislations also. Courts have struggled for years to
develop and refine their analysis of these claims. However, each new action brings a
different set of facts and circumstances into the equation and a separate determination
must be made as to whether the plaintiff has adduced sufficient evidence of control
and domination, improper purpose, or use and resulting damage.23
5) Company is not given citizenship rights.
Summary:
In the module, different types of business organizations, their features, merits and demerits
have been discussed. Incorporated and unincorporated associations and their distinctions have
been discussed. Advantages of a corporate personality and its disadvantages including the
doctrine of lifting the corporate veil have been discussed.
23
http://corporatelawreporter.com/2013/06/12/lifting-of-corporate-veil-with-reference-to-leading-
cases/ accessed on 28th September,2014