Companies Act, 1956
Sec 80 - Power
to issue redeemable preference shares
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section,
a company limited by shares may, if so authorized by its articles, issue
preference shares which are, or at the option of the company are to be liable,
to be redeemed :
Provided that-
(a) no such shares shall be redeemed except
out of profits of the company which would otherwise be available for dividend
or out of the proceeds of a fresh issue of shares made for the purposes of the
redemption ;
(b) no such shares
shall be redeemed unless they are fully paid ;
(c) the premium, if any, payable on redemption
shall have been provided for out of the profits of the company or out of the
company's security premium account, before the shares are redeemed ;
(d) where any such shares are redeemed
otherwise than out of the proceeds of a fresh issue, there shall, out of
profits which would otherwise have been available for dividend, be transferred
to a reserve fund, to be called the capital redemption reserve account, a sum
equal to the nominal amount of the shares redeemed ; and the provisions of this
Act relating to the reduction of the share capital of a company shall, except
as provided in this section, apply as if the capital redemption reserve account
were paid-up share capital of the company.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this section,
the redemption of preference shares thereunder may be effected on such terms
and in such manner as may be provided by the articles of the company.
(3) The redemption of preference shares under
this section by a company shall not be taken as reducing the amount of its
authorized share capital.
(4) Wherein pursuance of this section, a
company has redeemed or is about to redeem any preference shares, it shall have
power to issue shares up to the nominal amount of the shares redeemed or to be
redeemed as if those shares had never been issued ; and accordingly the share
capital of the company shall not, for the purpose of calculating the fees
payable under section 611, be deemed to be increased by the issue of shares in
pursuance of this sub-section :
Provided that, where new shares are issued
before the redemption of the old shares, the new shares shall not, so far as
relates to stamp duty, be deemed to have been issued in pursuance of this
sub-section unless the old shares are redeemed within one month after the issue
of the new shares.
(5) The capital redemption reserve account
may, notwithstanding anything in this section, be applied by the company, in
paying up unissued shares of the company to be issued to members of the company
as fully paid bonus shares.
(5A) Notwithstanding anything contained in
this Act, no company limited by shares shall, after the commencement of the Companies
(Amendment) Act, 1996 issue any preference share which is irredeemable or is
redeemable after the expiry of a period of twenty years from the date of its
issue.
(6) If a company fails to comply with the
provisions of this section, the company, and every officer of the company who
is in default, shall be punishable with fine which may extend to ten thousand
rupees.