'Exercise Discretionary Powers Responsibly And Without Arbitrariness': Delhi HC Directs Registrar Of Companies
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Delhi High Court has directed the Registrar of Companies to exercise the powers given to it efficiently, in accordance with law and devoid of any arbitrariness. The court was hearing a petition challenging the order of the RoC denying registration to a company which had a word 'Pandit' in its name.The RoC had rejected the application on the ground that the word 'Pandit' is already a...
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Delhi High Court has directed the Registrar of Companies to exercise the powers given to it efficiently, in accordance with law and devoid of any arbitrariness. The court was hearing a petition challenging the order of the RoC denying registration to a company which had a word 'Pandit' in its name.
The RoC had rejected the application on the ground that the word 'Pandit' is already a registered trademark. The Petitioner countered the same by making the following submissions:
a. RoC outsourced its legal functions to some companies, and without any opportunity of being heard, it refused registration without providing any valid reason
b. A trademark cannot be registered for a generic word such as 'Pandit'
c. There are already 116 companies which are having the word 'Pandit' in their names.
d. RoC is given wide discretionary powers and that too without any guidelines. This leads to selective granting of registration certificates
e. He pointed out Rule 8(2)(i) of Company Incorporation Rules, 2014, to highlight that RoC have been denying registrations for no justifiable reason
While directing the RoC to register the desired name of the Petitioner's company, the Division Bench of Justice SN Patel and Justice Hari Shankar opined that RoC's decision was against the law. There's no such registered trademark for the word Pandit and the same was not properly appreciated the RoC.
The court went on to note that the RoC's powers are coupled with the duties to act fairly and without arbitrariness. Whenever it's rejecting an application registration, an opportunity of being heard must be provided to the applicant. 'More is the discretion given, more would be the responsibility', the Bench highlighted.