Extension power: Registrar may extend the eighteen-month period for laying the first company account under the proviso.

The proviso to section 131(1) confers on the Registrar a discretion to extend 'the period' for filing company accounts and, on textual construction, that expression encompasses the initial eighteen-month period for laying the first account as well as subsequent shorter periods; singular wording is read to permit extension of one class of period at a time. The antecedent English statute's specific mention of the eighteen-month period and the general expression in the Indian text support this inclusive construction, with the result that the Registrar may extend the first-account filing period and the appeal challenging that power was dismissed.

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Issues: Whether, under the proviso to section 131(1) of the Indian Companies Act, the Registrar has power to extend the eighteen months period for laying the first account after incorporation.

Analysis: Section 131(1) prescribes (i) a period of eighteen months for laying the first account and (ii) shorter periods (nine or twelve months) for subsequent accounts, and contains a proviso empowering the Registrar to "extend the period by a period not exceeding three months." The language of the proviso uses the singular term "the period" rather than expressly enumerating which of the periods mentioned in the sub section are extendable. The singular form is not decisive against application to the eighteen months period because singular words may include the plural where context permits. The proviso in the English antecedent statute specifically mentioned the eighteen months period as well as the subsequent account periods, and the omission of such specification in the Indian text, together with the use of the general expression "the period," supports a construction that covers every period referred to in the sub section. The Registrar's power to extend must be exercisable only in respect of one class of period at a time (either the first account eighteen months period or the subsequent nine/twelve months period), which coheres with the singular wording. Nothing in the statutory language or context compels confining the proviso to only the nine or twelve month periods.

Conclusion: The Registrar has power under the proviso to section 131(1) of the Indian Companies Act to extend the eighteen months period for laying the first account; the appeal is dismissed (in favour of the respondent).

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