NCLAT allowed the appeal and set aside the impugned order. The...

NCLAT allowed the appeal and set aside the impugned order. The Tribunal held the respondents were not members of the company and therefore lacked standing to seek a waiver under s.244(b) to invoke remedies under ss.241, 242 and 59 of the Act. s.244 confines the right to apply to specified members; the proviso permitting waiver is available only to bona fide members and cannot be extended to non-members by presumption. The NCLT's grant of a waiver for alleged "exceptional circumstances" was unsupported by findings establishing such circumstances or a valid membership basis, rendering the waiver unsustainable and the proceedings under s.244 maintainable.