1988 (9) TMI 287

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....on behalf of the plaintiff company ?" The plaintiff is the Cardamom Marketing Co. (Travancore) Ltd., Brin-davan Buildings, M.C. Road, Kottayam-1. It is a public limited company within the meaning of the Companies Act. The plaint has been signed and verified by one Mr. N. Ananthasivan, designated as the secretary of the company. The verification reads :- "I.N. Ananthasivan, M.A., LLB, Secretary of the plaintiff company solemnly declare that all the facts stated by me in the above paragraphs are true to my knowledge and belief". According to the petitioner, Sri Ananthasivan, inasmuch as he has not been duly authorised to sign and verify the pleadings, has no authority to sign and verify the pleadings, and as such, the suit is liable ....

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.... is required is clear from the provisions contained in section 269 read with section 388 of the Companies Act, learned counsel argues. It is not the case of the plaintiff, he argues, that the company has obtained the requisite approval of the Central Government. He, accordingly, concludes the argument by saying that the pleadings cannot be said to have been duly signed and verified by a person who is competent under law to sign and verify the same and as such there is no suit in the eye of law. There is considerable force in this argument. Rules 14 and 15 of Order VI, Civil Procedure Code, regulate the requirements regarding signing and verifying of pleadings generally. A corporation can take advantage of these provisions and have its pl....

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....at at the time in question, any one else was doing any act of management and, therefore, it is only fair to presume that the person who has signed and verified the pleadings is the person, best of all others, to depose to the facts pleaded. The complaint of the defendant, however, is that in his capacity as secretary, Sri Ananthasivan is incompetent to sign and verify the pleadings because his appointment as secretary has not been approved by the Central Government. May be that his appointment has not so far been approved by the Central Government But the fact remains that he has been managing the affairs of the company even to the knowledge of the defendant; and as such, it can safely be opined without fear of contradiction that he is able....