Companies Act, 1956
Sec 187B -
Exercise of voting rights in respect of shares held in trust.
(1) Save as otherwise provided in section 153B
but notwithstanding anything contained in any other provisions of this Act or
any other law or any contract, memorandum or articles, where any shares in a
company are held in trust by a person (hereinafter referred to as trustee), the
rights and powers (including the right to vote by proxy) exercisable at any
meeting of the company or at any meeting of any class of members of the company
by the trustee as a member of the company shall
(a) cease to be exercisable by the trustee as
such member, and
(b) become exercisable by the public trustee.
(2) The public trustee may, instead of himself
attending the meeting, and exercising the rights and powers, as aforesaid,
appoint as his proxy an officer of Government or the trustee himself to attend
such meeting and to exercise such rights and powers in accordance with the
directions of the public trustee :
Provided that where the trustee is appointed by
the public trustee as his proxy, the trustee shall be entitled, notwithstanding
anything contained in any other provisions of this Act, to exercise such rights
and powers in the same manner as he would have been but for the provisions of
this section.
(3) The public trustee may abstain from
exercising the rights and powers conferred on him by this section if in his
opinion the objects of the trust or the interests of the beneficiaries of the
trust are not likely to be adversely affected by such abstention.
(4) If for any reason the trustee considers
that the public trustee should not abstain from exercising the rights and
powers conferred on him by this section and the exercise of such rights and
powers is necessary in order to safeguard the objects of the trust or the
interests of the beneficiaries of the trust, he may by writing communicate his
views in this behalf to the public trustee but the public trustee may in his
discretion either accept such views or reject the same.
(5) No suit, prosecution or other legal
proceeding shall lie against the public trustee at the instance of the trustee
or any person on his behalf or any other person on the ground that the public
trustee has abstained from exercising the rights and powers conferred on him by
this section.
(6) In order to enable the public trustee to exercise the rights
and powers aforesaid, the public trustee shall also be entitled to receive and
inspect all books and papers under this Act, which a member is entitled to
receive and inspect.
(7) The provisions of this section shall not apply on and after
the commencement of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2000.